The Law!

Various Law codes of Mega City 1 that Judges use to carry out sentencing.

Before a Judge continues his patrol or current investigation, he must sentence the perp to a period of time in the iso cubes. The arresting Judge’s word is final for sentencing (subject to further evidence being uncovered at a later date and many crimes have variable sentences permitted, allowing a Judge to use his own discretion and still remain within the law); however, a Judge who is consistently too harsh or too lenient may well be investigated himself and disciplined. The guide below may be used by players to determine a suitable sentence for any perp they arrest, be it time spent in an iso-cube, a credit fine (paid directly to the Judge’s Sector House) or some other punishment.

General crimes are gathered into Codes and then into Sections, with a Section determining the specific crime.
When sentencing, Judges may quote the Code and Section to the perp (and must always file this information when logging an arrest) but are not obliged to do so.

Code 1: Homicide/Sexual Assault

Despite the fact that life is cheap in Mega-City One, murder is still a heinous crime that the Judges do not tolerate. Any citizen
caught in the act of killing or attempting to kill, another, faces the stiffest penalties. Code 1 offenders receive no time-off for good
behaviour and no parole; Life means Life, with their sentence served amongst similar offenders.
Section Offence Sentence
1 Premeditated murder of a Judge during the execution of his duty Life
2 Premeditated mass murder (spree or serial killing) 30 years-Life
3 Premeditated murder 15 years-Life
4 Prolonged abuse or neglect resulting in death 8-40 years
5 Manslaughter (unlawful killing with no malicious intent, accidental or incidental death
caused while involved in lesser category crimes)
8-25 years
6 Rape and Murder 30 years-Life
7 Rape and Attempted Murder 30 years-Life
8 Rape 18-40 years
9 Sexual Assault 10-25 years

Code 2: Assault

Assault is a depressingly common occurrence in Mega-City One. Pent-up aggression is usually the cause and attempts to
control it, such as the ill-fated Aggrodomes, have usually come to nought. Citizens are expected to control their emotions but
many find that lashing-out comes all-too easily.
Section Offence Sentence
1 Assault of a Judge resulting in actual or grievous bodily harm 10-20 years
2 Assault of a citizen resulting in grievous bodily harm 3-12 years
3 Assault of a citizen resulting in actual bodily harm 1-8 years
4 Torture 8-15 years
5 Assault with a deadly weapon 6 months-2 years
6 Common assault or brawling 3 months-2 years

Code 3: City Security

The security of Mega-City One is paramount, particularly in the wake of the Apocalypse War. The Security of the City Act
enshrines Mega-City One’s sanctity and it can be invoked by any Judge who has substantial reason to believe that the overall
security of the city is under threat. This is never a step taken lightly and any Judge who invokes the act or the sentence of
Execution (under the infamous section 34b), must be in a position to fully justify his decisions and actions.
Section Offence Sentence
1 Treason or Espionage Life
2 Any action likely to lead to citywide death and destruction Life
3 Collaboration with a hostile foreign power during wartime Execution
4 Interfering with a Judge engaged in protecting the security of Mega-City One Execution

Code 4: Robbery

Like assault, robbery is depressingly prevalent. With little prospects of a job, far too much free time and the ever-present
pressure to have the latest of everything, many citizens are all-too ready to resort to robbery and piracy to gain what they want.
The most careful robbers may even get away with their ill-gotten gains – for a while, but robbery, whether a carefully-planned
heist or an opportunistic street mugging (or ‘tapping’) is dealt with harshly by the Judges.
Section Offence Sentence
1 Armed robbery with violence 18 years-Life
2 Armed robbery 10-30 years
3 Hijacking 8-20 years
4 Mopad Piracy 10-30 years
5 Looting 2-10 years
6 Tapping (mugging) 5-30 years
7 Wrecking 10-25 years

Code 5: Burglary

Even though Mega-City One properties are fitted with advanced security systems, burglars, particularly the clever ones,
always find a way to gain access to property and its occupant’s personal possessions. Like robbery, burglary is met with
stiff sentences.
Section Offence Sentence
1 Burglary 10-20 years
2 Breaking and Entering 8-20 years
3 Possessing equipment to be used for burglary 2-5 years
4 Trespass 6 months-3 years

Code 6: Theft & Theft-Related Offences

Minor theft and related offences receive a more lenient treatment than burglary and robbery but still harsh nonetheless. Casual
theft, such as shoplifting and pick-pocketing (known as ‘dunking’) are a major social nuisance and offenders do not receive a
warning or a caution; the appropriate sentence is levelled whatever the circumstances.
Section Offence Sentence
1 Shoplifting 1-5 years
2 Dunking (pick-pocketing) 2-5 years
3 Theft (unless covered by Codes 4 or 5) 2-15 years
4 Dealing in stolen goods 6 months-5 years
5 Possession of stolen property 3 months-5 years

Code 7: Arson

Although many of the millions of buildings in Mega-City One are made from fire-retardant materials or are equipped
fire control systems, arson is still considered a heinous crime that must be punished with the harshest sentences. In a
where 400 million people are crammed into high-rise spaces, the deliberate act of starting a fire is considered to be
par with murder.
Section Offence Sentence
1 Setting fires with intent to cause death Life
2 Setting fires with intent to damage property 30 years-Life

Code 8: Medical & Scientific

The medical advances of the 22nd Century are astonishing. There is a constant demand for replacement body parts (the Resyk
Centres recycle corpses legally, deriving 107 useful things from each cadaver) and internal organs, leading to a grim black
market where people are kidnapped and have organs forcibly removed or their entire bodies sold to unscrupulous research
scientists working on their latest insane scheme.
Mastering of technology at the molecular level has brought the ability for faces to be completely altered within minutes, using
face changing devices. Of clear benefit to determined and desperate perps, this kind of technology is not banned, because of
its clear medical benefits; but is strictly controlled.
Additionally, cybernetics have been a possibility since the early 21st Century, with cybernetic limbs and other enhancements
available under specially licensed conditions. There are still those underground, unlicensed clinics where cybernetic modification
can be bought illegally, giving certain criminals an edge on their competition and the Judges.
Section Offence Sentence
1 Unlicensed practising of medicine 3-15 years
2 Unlicensed experimentation 10-20 years
3 Unauthorised possession of controlled biological, chemical or mutagenic substance 15 years-Life
4 Body Sharking 15 years-Life
5 Organ Legging 15 years-Life
6 Body Snatching Life
7 Possession and/or implementation of banned cybernetic implants 3-15 years
8 Unlicensed Cloning 5-20 years
9 Possession of unlicensed face changing machinery 5-15 years
10 Use of face changing machinery to assist a perpetrator of crime 15-30 years

Code 9: Criminal Damage

Expressions of pent-up rage, as well as general impatience with ineffective equipment, are treated swiftly and sternly. Of
particular annoyance to the city and the Justice Department, is the act of ‘scrawling’ – tagging public spaces with painted graffiti.
Following the Marlon ‘Chopper’ Shakespeare affair, scrawling has diminished but occasionally flares again, usually in response
to some perceived slight or social miscarriage.
Section Offence Sentence
1 Robot Smashing 5-15 years
2 Criminal Damage 6 months-10 years
3 Vandalism 3 months-6 years
4 Scrawling 1 month-1 year

Code 10: Illegal Imprisonment & Abduction

The law is simple: abduct and imprison someone and you can expect to be imprisoned yourself. For all the lack of general
liberty in Mega-City One, forcibly holding someone against their will (unless the Judges do it) is a major crime – as reflected in
the sentencing.
One particularly abhorrent crime is the practice of Chump Dumping. Here, aliens are conned into visiting Earth (and Mega-City
One) as tourists or refugees, paying extortionate sums to the runners who organise the passage. In deep space, the passenger
pod of the spaceship is jettisoned, without life support, leaving the poor occupants to die alone whilst the perps pocket the transit
fee. Chump Dumping tends to be controlled by the Mob gangs and other organised crime groups.
Section Offence Sentence
1 Kidnap (abduction with ransom demand) 20 years-Life
2 Chump Dumping Life
3 Abduction 15 years-Life
4 False imprisonment 10-30 years
5 Hostage taking 10-20 years
6 Incitement to kidnapping 5-10 years

Code 11: Civic & Financial

Water-tight computerised accounting and financial regulation, in the wake of the infamous ‘Credit Crunch’ of the very early 21st
Century, means that most major financial transactions are controlled by incorruptible AIs and computerised systems that do not
know the meaning of greed and take the most sensible fiscal decisions based on long-term planning, calculated risk and close
observance of previous recessions and depressions. That said, some citizens can get away with relatively low-levels of financial
malfeasance, such as minor counts of tax evasion, but financial ‘white collar’ crimes tend to be few and far between.
Gambling, illegal in Mega-City One since its formation, falls into Code 11. But betting on the outcome of all manner of activities
(rat fights, robot fights, dog fights, mutant fights, skyboard races, the vicious Mega-City 5000 bike race) still happens from
slums, through shuggy halls to the penthouses of the rich and famous. The Mob controls a lot of illegal gambling through their
devious ‘numbers rackets’ but often gambling is ad-hoc and opportunistic. TV game shows are exempt from the gambling laws
but only because extensive and complex charters exist to ensure that pure chance and controls on the sums waged are firmly
in place.
Section Offence Sentence
1 Bigamy 1 year per count
2 Unlicensed adoption 1 year per count
3 Gambling 1-5 years
4 Tax Evasion Cr. 5,000 fine-8 years
5 Blackmail 2-30 years

Code 12: Technology

Any advances in technology leads to an exploitation of that technology for criminal ends, no matter what the safeguards. Most
technology crime is covered under other codes, so Code 12 deals with certain specific crimes, such as tampering with robots,
building WMDs and computer hacking. Deliberately planting aggression chips in robots, thereby breaking their conditioning to
serve and obey humans, is viewed with special severity following the Robot Wars.
Section Offence Sentence
1 Implanting aggression chips into robots 15-30 years
2 Illegal possession or trading of war or assassin droids 3-15 years
3 Unauthorised construction of weapons of mass destruction 10 years-Life
4 Computer hacking 3-20 years

Code 13: Public Order

Maintaining public order is a major challenge for the Judges. Riots and acts of mass public disorder flare all too easily in such
a densely populated city, and one with 87% unemployment and unhealthy levels of aggression.
The pinnacle of Code 13 violations is Block War, when neighbouring city blocks begin blasting the hell out of each other, floor
by floor and with whatever weapons come to hand, for the most trivial of reasons. Block War is difficult to contain, owing to the
sheer size of the city blocks, the number of citizens involved and the ferocity of the fighting, and so Judges come down very
heavily on Block War participants and instigators. Once a Block War has been halted, the offending city blocks are sealed and
Judges conduct apartment-by-apartment searches, interviewing each and every citizen to uncover their participation in the
fracas. Birdie lie detectors (as well as physical evidence – secreted weapons, spent shell cases, grappling lines, suckers and
so on) quickly establish guilt.
Yet Block War has its uses. In the aftermath of the war Judges have the opportunity to investigate many citizens and thus
uncover many undiscovered or unsolved crimes. And, as Block War tends to result in huge arrest rates, some city blocks
become surprisingly depopulated in a short space of time, allowing the vast waiting lists of those wanting block accommodation
to find block housing at long last.
Section Offence Sentence
1 Block War participation 15 years-Life
2 Rioting 3-15 years
3 Agitation and rabble-rousing/incitement to riot 1-15 years
4 Obstruction 3 months-2 years
5 Unlawful assembly 3 months-1 year
6 Drunk and disorderly Compulsory rehab + 2 years

Code 14: Public Nuisance

Crazes and faddish pursuits started out of innocent boredom or a need to create something new can rapidly turn into a nightmare
for the majority who do not share the enthusiasm. Some pursuits, like Boinging®, are simply too dangerous when not conducted
under controlled conditions. So it is that certain pursuits become classified as Code 14 Public Nuisance Violations.
The Code also includes activities, such as running on a moving walkway, which, whilst not necessarily an endangerment to
others (but could become so), simply flouts the rules put in place to regulate behaviour.
Section Offence Sentence
1 Boinging® in a public place 20 years
2 Low level or dangerous sky surfing/bat gliding 3 months-20 years
3 Peeping 6 months-2 years
4 Loitering 6 months-1 year
5 Loitering with intent 1 year-3 years
6 Littering Cr. 100 fine or up to 1 year; 2-5 years for a repeat offence
7 Jaywalking 3 months-2 years
8 Running on a public walkway/walking on a public runway 3 months-1 year
9 Begging 1-12 months
10 Intentional wasting of Justice Department time 1 month-1 year
11 Smoking in public 1-3 years + compulsory detox
12 Incitement to commit a crime 1-12 months

Code 15: Traffic

Mega-City One’s roads are incredibly dangerous places. First there is the sheer complexity of the road system; satellite
navigation systems and auto-control remove some of the hazards of this complexity but people still become utterly bewildered
by the spaghetti-like strands of highway that permeate the city, sometimes several kilometres above the ground. Couple that
with the sheer speed of some vehicles – and the fact that the roads are never quiet – and the need for draconian traffic codes
becomes apparent.
Section Offence Sentence
1 Driving under the influence of drink or drugs 5-15 years, plus life ban
2 Dangerous driving 2-15 years, plus life ban
3 Driving while banned/without a permit 1-5 years
4 Speeding, slow driving, lane weaving, light jumping Cr. 5,000 fine or up to 2 years, plus a driving ban of 5-20 years
5 Driving an un-roadworthy or dangerous vehicle Cr. 1,000 fine or up to 2 years
6 Parking violation Cr. 1,000 fine or up 30 days

Code 16: Psi

Psions are not illegal in Mega-City One – after all, the Justice Department maintains its own Psi Division – but those rare
individuals who do display psionic talents must be registered as soon as their abilities become apparent. A parent who knows
their child is psionic but fails to register them is guilty of a Code 16/3 violation; not the child himself. Once registered, the abilities
that the psion can use are logged and made accessible to the Justice Department via MAC. Using a power or talent that one is
not licensed to use is a Code 16/2 violation.
Section Offence Sentence
1 Knowing or premeditated use of a psionic or psychic ability to cause injury or death 30 years-Life
2 Unauthorised use of psionic or psychic abilities 5-15 years
3 Unregistered psionic or psychic abilities 1-5 years

Code 17: Employment

In a city of 400 million, most are unemployed. Many of the routine jobs humans would once have filled have been either
automated or can be accomplished far more cheaply and efficiently by robots. As a consequence, the chances of having a
meaningful job in Mega-City One are slim. Unemployment, and how to handle it, is taught as part of the school curriculum in a
bid to equip people for the tedious reality of having nothing to do.
Given this situation, Code 17 relates to the labyrinthine employment laws of the city. Moonlighting – holding down two jobs at
once – for example, denies someone else a job and so is illegal. Employing robots to carry out tasks designated for humans
does similar. Likewise, some tasks are assigned specifically to robots because they are too complex or hazardous for humans
to undertake – despite the fact that many humans simply do not care, as long as they can work.
Section Offence Sentence
1 Employing citizens without a licence 1-15 years
2 Breach of health and safety regulations Cr. 1,000 or up to 2 years
3 Moonlighting 5 years per job
4 Employing robots in a human-specific task 5-8 years
5 Employing humans in a robot-specific task 5-8 years

Code 18: Fraud & Forgery

Fraud and forgery are refined arts in Mega-City One, even given the advanced antifraud measures built into official documents, permits
and so on. Practised forgers and counterfeiters are masters of their craft, capable of replicating most documents given enough time,
resources and money, to a standard that will fool most detection devices. As most activities in Mega-City One require a permit or a
license, fraud and forgery are still extensive crimes; citizens are always willing to take a risk to be able to pursue what they want to.
Section Offence Sentence
1 Defrauding the Justice Department 20 years-Life
2 Corporate fraud or embezzling 10-30 years
3 Trading in fraudulent goods 5-20 years
4 Counterfeiting or forgery of legal documents 8-15 years
5 Forgery 5-12 years
6 Possession of forging equipment 3-10 years
7 Knowingly trading or possessing forged or counterfeit items 2-8 years
8 Misleading description of goods or services 2-5 years

Code 19: Impersonation & Deception

Given the status and power of the Judges it is little surprise that some citizens feel the need to impersonate them – either to commit
a crime and (hopefully) get away with it or simply to experience the sheer thrill of striding around Mega-City One, clad in that iconic
uniform and helmet and to see the looks of fear, admiration and respect on the faces of ordinary civilians as a Judge hoves into
view. Naturally enough, impersonating a Judge – jimping – is a serious offence, even if the purpose is simply to attend an innocent
fancy dress party. Yet impersonation and deception is not confined to jimping. With face changing technology available with relative
ease, the temptation is there to have one’s facial features modified to resemble those of a TV, vid or music star. This is, of course,
illegal; but it does not stop unscrupulous, unlicensed (and thus illicit) face change clinics from offering this special service to those
who can a) afford it b) get a real kick from looking like current vid star Britnee Woodtarn and c) want to run the risk of a year in the
cubes. For the fame-hungry (and Mega-City One has lots of famished individuals), the risk is worth it.
Section Offence Sentence
1 Jimping (impersonation of a Judge) with intent to commit crime 10-20 years
2 Jimping for other reasons 5-10 years
3 Unauthorised use of an image of a Judge for commercial reasons 1-5 years
4 Unauthorised impersonation of a celebrity or public figure 3 months-1 year
5 Impersonation of a known criminal 6 months-2 years
6 Obtaining goods or services through deception 2-5 years