Department of Justice

1. Who we are

The Department of Justice (DOJ) runs the courts, Legal Aid, MCAT and the Coroners Court in Melbourne. There is no Sheriff: Melbourne Police enforce overdue fines. In the city the department works through the Justice tablet (Responce One) and the courthouse; outside the city it is organised in the DOJ Discord.

Our job is simple to say and hard to do well: hear matters fairly, record every decision properly, enforce what the court orders, and give everyone who comes before the court a good roleplay experience, win or lose.

Please note: this handbook and every document in this library describe the court on Legacy Roleplay. They are server rules for roleplay, not real law, and nothing here is legal advice.

2. The offices and what each may do

Every member of the department holds an office. The office is the grade of the Justice job in the city, and it decides what the tablet lets you do.

• 0 Court Registrar: open matters, list and move hearings.
• 1 Bail Justice: everything a registrar can do, plus decide bail.
• 2 Senior Court Registrar: as the registrar: open matters, list and move hearings.
• 3 Principal Registrar: as the registrar, plus deciding bail.
• 4 OPP Solicitor: open and list matters, and prosecute (serve a hand-up brief, withdraw charges).
• 5 Crown Prosecutor: open and list matters, and prosecute.
• 6 Magistrate: sits in the Magistrates’ Court.
• 7 County Court Judge: sits in the County Court and below.
• 8 Supreme Court Justice: sits in the Supreme Court and below.
• 9 Chief Magistrate: sits at every level and leads the department.
• 10 Attorney-General: leads the department, sits and prosecutes.

Lawyers are not staff. A lawyer holds a practising certificate on the Legal Profession register, which the department keeps. See Legal Practitioners: Admission, Conduct and Legal Aid.

3. Joining the department

To apply, press Join the department at the help desk in the DOJ Discord, which opens a private ticket, or use the application on the website. The department reviews every application and decides which office, if any, to offer.

Most people start in the registry and move up as they learn the procedure. Bench offices are given to members who have shown sound judgement and a good grasp of these documents.

4. Your office role and your grade in the city

Your office role in the DOJ Discord sets the grade of your Justice job in the city. When the department gives you a role, your grade follows; when a role is removed, the grade goes with it.

One step first: your character must have held the doj job in the city at least once before the role can set a grade. If your grade is not showing, check that first, then raise it in staff-chat.

Pay for Justice work comes from the doj treasury, not from the people before the court.

5. Conduct and professionalism

• Be impartial. Never decide a matter involving your own character, friends or crew; hand it to another officer.
• Record every decision on the tablet at the time it is made. If it is not on the tablet, it did not happen.
• Stay in character in the courthouse. Out-of-character problems go to a ticket, never into the courtroom.
• No metagaming. Decide on what was said and shown in the city, not on what you saw on a stream or in Discord.
• Be courteous to the accused, witnesses, lawyers and police alike, including when you rule against them.
• Use only the powers your office gives you. If the tablet does not let you do something, that is the rule working.

6. Duty and availability

Go on duty when you are able to take work, and off duty when you are not. A court that lists a hearing and then fails to sit lets everybody down, so only list sittings you or a colleague will attend.

If you cannot make a sitting, say so in staff-chat as early as you can so the registry can move the hearing. While no bench officer is on duty, police Senior Leadership may decide police warrant applications; that is a safety net, not a substitute for the bench.

7. The Discord and the website

• help-desk: buttons for a duty lawyer, a court enquiry, fines, and joining the department. Each opens a private ticket.
• court-list: every sitting this week, kept up to date from the city. The same list is public at https://thelegacyroleplay.com/justice/court-list.
• court-results: listings and finalised matters. mcat and coroners-court: their sittings.
• Staff area: registry (every matter and step from the city), orders (intervention orders and breaches), legal-aid and staff-chat.
• ask-courty: ask Courty, the department’s assistant, about procedure or a record.

The documents in this library live at /justice/documents on the website and are linked from the Discord.

8. Where to get help

Members of the public should start at the help desk. Staff should ask in staff-chat or ask Courty, and raise anything about another member’s conduct with the Chief Magistrate or the Attorney-General in a ticket.