The Justice System in Aetheri

The justice system in Aetheri (like a lot of other quirks of their society) revolves around the fact that around a third of spirits are truth seers, which means that there's a very solid chance that anyone you meet can tell instantly if you are knowingly lying to them. Truth seers are naturally overrepresented in law enforcement and law generally, but the (inborn, but requires development) skill is not absolutely required to work in these fields.

Where the justice systems we're familiar with on Earth start with the question of guilt, Aetheri's starts with the question of rehabilitation or punishment. Guilt is the easy part of solving a crime in Aetheri; the only real way to get away with a crime is to not end up on the investigator's radar at all, or to not be physically caught, because as soon as the right suspect is apprehended, it's not like they can lie their way out again.

The upside of this is that law enforcement in Aetheri is generally more invested in getting to the truth of a case rather than carelessly pinning it on someone just to get a conviction, because such a case would disintegrate on contact with the rest of the system.

To start, a rundown of the different entities that make up the system:

• Elrymar Uma d'Escalus or the City Administrator: the name for the office responsible for overseeing most city aspects in Escalus (or in Ryvar, the Elryma Uma du Ryvar) as well as the title of the person who holds the top post. ('elrymar' = administrator/administration, context-dependent.) Functions like a mayoral office in a lot of respects. This position in Escalus is currently held by one of Numair's cousins and has been held by a d'Escala for centuries. They have direction over the law enforcement body, but in most cases defer this to the local prosecutorial office, who is technically independent of them.
• Elrymar Nycthar d'Escalus or the Escalan Investigative Bureau: the police department of Escalus, essentially.
• Aetherierri or the Aetherian National Army: about 10k strong. They rotate through rural areas and fill most of the function of law enforcement where it doesn't already exist, including mediating local disputes and

  Instead of trials that address the question of whether or not someone is guilty of a crime, guilt is established before a case is even presented to a courtroom; the trial is focused instead on A) how likely someone is to commit the same or a similar crime again, B) what a proportional punishment/course of rehabilitation is, and C) what is owed to the victims or their families.

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