Legal systems of Themiclesia

The legal systems of Themiclesia are the pre-modern modes of legal thought that gave rise to penal and civil law immediately preceding the introduction of Casaterran jurisprudence in the 1700s.

Penal law is the oldest extant legal jurisdiction in Themiclesia, which survived due to its codified nature, importance to traditional philosophies of governance, and function in the bureaucratic tradition.  The primary purport of the penal law is stated to be "forbidding of evil" (禁惡, krjemh-′ak). In contrast to various forms of civil law, which are theorized to provide justice and restitution, penal law has historically been characterized as a tool of government, to compel the necessary and forbid the disruptive, according to the interests of state. As such, penalties assessed on offences might be, and frequently were, disproportionable to the actual damage caused by the offence.   In many cases, crimes do not have clear victims but remain punishable. This is encapsulated in the word "evil" (惡, ′ak) in Shinasthana, cognate to "odious", describing things that are subjectively offensive, not limited by any theory of justice. The philosophy is also gleamed from terminology used in criminal proceedings, where the guilt is summarized by the phrase pje-brjanh "inconvenient". In earlier centuries, ′ak may have represented religious pollution or a similar concept, but by the start of the Common Era it was understood as an amoral tool in statecraft.