Penalty for falsely acusing someone of Rape in your Nation

[Mithradates Megas]

Howdy.

So there's a thread about the Penalties of Rape in the various nations of the NS World. I wish I could say I was shocked when I read some of the responses...half of them involved mandatory minimum sentences of over 20 years, castration, torture, or some combination of them all. Which...is heavy-handed, surely, but understandable enough when one takes the subjective position of the Victim in the situation.

But.

There is a problem with having such draconian punishments for such crimes. In lots of places around the world, the laws for what constitutes 'rape' are so vague or oddly worded that it becomes difficult to tell if it was truly 'rape' (which can be defined in as many ways as there are people to define it) and not some terrible misunderstanding or whatever else, even if there is evidence of the event at all (which is almost never). In some places, it is entirely too common for (intoxicated) people to have sex, and then one partner claims 'rape' as they regret the decision while sober (I'm looking at you, Westernized World!) And yet most of the people who responded on the other thread were fine with meting out such harsh punishments to those convicted of the crime...

So tell me - in the cases where someone has been wrongly accused of rape, and been punished as per the rules of your nation...what is there redress, and what happens to the Snake-in-the-Grass who claims to be a Victim, knowing that they were not? Does the false-Victim get their sentence? Does the Judge? Tell me, what do you think?

[Page]

It is the job of investigators to decide the validity of claims and to proceed based on a reasonable body of evidence - there is no penalty because we do not want to discourage the reporting of crimes. However, multiple incidents of a single person doing this may result in them undergoing a court ordered mental examination.

[Awesomeland]

Since the penalty for rape is death, to willfully and knowingly falsely accuse someone therefore is covered under "Attempted Murder", which carries the maximum penalty of death. It must be demonstrated that the individual has willfully and knowingly falsely accused an individual of this, not merely a gray area of "was it or wasn't it rape", "mistaken identity", or "not guilty due to insufficient evidence".

So far, no one has actually been convicted for this yet.

[Estainia]

It's complicated...

In case of the false-accuser being female, nothing happens.

Why? We literally worship women as Gods.

In case of the false accuser being male, we tend to not take them seriously in the first place; honestly.

And you thought our response in the other thread was odd.

[Esperantigxiujo]

The government can't do anything about it. However the falsely accused can sue the accuser for slander and libel and damage to reputation.

[Alternate Universe 912]

* If the case goes to court, and it can be shown that the accuser wilfully lied, intending that the accused be wrongly convicted, it's considered perjury, which is punishable by a fine, jail time, and community service, and sometimes psychological treatment. A typical sentence for a first offense might be a $2000 fine, 192 hours hard labor, and 1000 hours community service.
* If the accuser gave a public statement outside of court, they may be accused of slander (or libel, if written).
* The falsely accused may sue the accuser for loss of income, expenses, and various other damages incurred during the trial and any punishment they recieved.
* Finally, the accused may sue the accuser for loss of reputation, though such cases are rarely successful as the opinion of a person convicted of perjury rarely counts for much in our society.

[Novus Niciae]

False accusations are perjury and punished with up seven years in jail, they are also liable for a civil lawsuit from the victim with their liability covering the lost income of the victim whilst they were in jail , as well as compensation for being in jail of 50000cr per year or path thereof the victim spent in jail. This money will be recovered by the seizure and sale of the offenders assets and a lien being placed on their income until the full amount is paid back. The government pays the victim the lump sum of the compensation upon the conviction of their accuser and the civil suits conclusion which is an open and shut case and usually resolved at the same court session as the criminal trial and the judge will always rule the offender has liability when a criminal conviction for the same incident is in place.

The media is required by law to publicize the news of the false accusation with exactly the same frequency and prominence as they reported on the original rape trial and clearly and definitively state the innocence of the falsely accused rapist.

The conviction for rape is completely removed from the criminal record of the falsely accused and they are treated as if it never happened in the eyes of the law in regards to our three strikes law.

If the falsely accused is on their third strike offense for rape owing to the false accusation(s) and they are executed the false accuser(s) are liable for the earnings of the victim for the predicted natural life of the victim (collected and distributed the same way as detailed above) and their charge changes from perjury to murder with a sentence of 14 years prison.

[The UEG-Space Command]

Your slapped because we managed to get to a time were there is a 80% or higher chance of knowing whether a rape has happened or not. If you get past but you were found out to have lied, we will take the other person and bring them back to life and then you go to rehabilitation, there is a strong following by victims of this rare occurrence who demand that the person who lied really get raped, possibly by the accused if they are willing, this is controversial but even members of reach's largest capital punishment group have seen this a little extreme.

[Greater New York]

They get charged with libel, and have to pay all court charges for the person they accused of rape, or some form of compensation. The maximum punishment is 5-10 years of prison/rehabilitation.

[Magmia]

The falsely accused get compensation

The liar.....well....... gets the $h!t beaten out of them by the police! They won't be lying no more

[The United Soviet Socialist Republic]

If it is found out that the authorities are wrong in convicting somone than the person who wrongly accused/framed that person for rape will recive the same punishment for rape, castration and gladiator fights for men and women have their legs cut off and are thrown in a shark tank, the wrongly accused victim, assuming he/she was not executed beforehand, is free of their sentance and allowed to go, if there is a right suspect than he/she recives the usual punishment.

[Wallonie-Bruxelles]

Howdy.

So there's a thread about the Penalties of Rape in the various nations of the NS World. I wish I could say I was shocked when I read some of the responses...half of them involved mandatory minimum sentences of over 20 years, castration, torture, or some combination of them all. Which...is heavy-handed, surely, but understandable enough when one takes the subjective position of the Victim in the situation.

But.

There is a problem with having such draconian punishments for such crimes. In lots of places around the world, the laws for what constitutes 'rape' are so vague or oddly worded that it becomes difficult to tell if it was truly 'rape' (which can be defined in as many ways as there are people to define it) and not some terrible misunderstanding or whatever else, even if there is evidence of the event at all (which is almost never). In some places, it is entirely too common for (intoxicated) people to have sex, and then one partner claims 'rape' as they regret the decision while sober (I'm looking at you, Westernized World!) And yet most of the people who responded on the other thread were fine with meting out such harsh punishments to those convicted of the crime...

It is technically illegal to have sex with someone who can not give consent. Someone who is intoxicated is legally not able to give consent, so having sex with a drunk person is rape. Then again if you were drunk yourself, it's mutual rape... so there most certainly is a grey zone.

So tell me - in the cases where someone has been wrongly accused of rape, and been punished as per the rules of your nation...what is there redress, and what happens to the Snake-in-the-Grass who claims to be a Victim, knowing that they were not? Does the false-Victim get their sentence? Does the Judge? Tell me, what do you think?

I think this happens not nearly as often in my country as in others. Where I live (OOC) people in general don't report rape at all. Almost every girl I've had something with told me she had been raped, because you know, grey zone. It's up to the judge to decide, but it's up to the raped person in question to start a case.
Besides, "wrongly accused" often just means there is not enough evidence, as rape is indistinguishable from regular sex is way too many cases. Still OOC I believe that it can't be easy enough for a woman to report rape but on the other hand, without solid evidence there can't be a guilty person. The best way to try rapists is to group cases together, making one case out of several raped people which often happens with rapists who get away with it the first time. If you can determine the overall sexual pattern of a person, you may be able to judge better whether or not his style constitutes as rape.

[Magmia]

If it is found out that the authorities are wrong in convicting somone than the person who wrongly accused/framed that person for rape will recive the same punishment for rape, castration and gladiator fights for men and women have their legs cut off and are thrown in a shark tank, the wrongly accused victim, assuming he/she was not executed beforehand, is free of their sentance and allowed to go, if there is a right suspect than he/she recives the usual punishment.

ok then.......

[The Batorys]

That depends on how far the accusation was pursued. False reporting of rape is extremely rare, so this doesn't come up very often. If a rape was falsely reported to authorities who, upon investigation, found the report to be a falsehood, no further action will be taken. While the Empress' government frowns upon false accusations of criminal behavior, it is felt that having a punishment for false reports at this stage would discourage women from reporting actual rapes.

If the matter somehow makes it past investigators (even more rare), and is brought to court, and the accuser gives false testimony, then she could be potentially tried for perjury.

If the accuser goes beyond normal degrees in publicizing the accusation prior to a trial, or even without reporting a rape, she could be investigated for defamation.

However, all these scenarios are so rare as to be, for the vast majority of citizens and even law enforcement, mostly theoretical.

OOC: I find the issue of false accusations of rape to be a bit of a strawman/red herring IRL, as the number of false accusations is miniscule compared to the number of actual rapes that go unreported.

[New Chelel]

In a few ultraconservative enclaves, the penalty is the same as for rape: death by beheading.

In the rest of the country, no state - prescribed penalty is considered necessary, as the social consequences of purjury to the accuser's honor would be severe.
- Slaves: the humiliation faced by one's master in such cases is generally such that a severe beating is probably the best a slave can hope for.
- Commoners: typically, the findings of the court are posted or read aloud in the accuser's neighborhood. If the accuser wants to find work, they will have to go somewhere where their deeds are not known.
- Nobles: the house or clan leadership has the right to punish nobles who bring dishonor to the family. Depending on the specifics, imprisonment in a dungeon, beatings, mild torture, or in severe cases, being asked to do something insanely dangerous to restore one's honor, or more rarely, exile, are all possible punishments.

Of course, that's if the case gets to court. If it didn't go to court, then it's just a nasty rumor.

[Grays Harbor]

The penalty for this is the same as any other malicious false accusations, which in most cases if convicted of the falsehood, the punishment is the same as that for the crime which they were falsely accusing somebody of.

[Davao Grande]

Simple. Perjurers face the penalty intended for the ones they falsely accused.

[Teddy Bear Republic]

The penalty in the TBRE for somebody falsely accusing another of rape depends. If done maliciously, they could face time or a fine for obstruction or justice, or similar penalty.

[Dracoria]

Officially? A slap on the wrist. A fine, the case thrown out, and a permanent blemish on your record, same as with most false accusations of crime.
Unofficially, it can be far worse. Dracorian society tends to be very economically mobile, and with something like this on your record, don't expect to hear back from any good employers. At best, you're not going much further up. At worst, you'll only be hired or given loans by the lowest of the low - welcome to the bottom rungs of the economic ladder. Some can recover, but they're in the minority.

[Makaar]

The penalty depends on the stage of the investigation, and how many chances the deceiving party has had to come forward and admit their wrongdoing.

Reporting a crime which did not happen is causing a wasteful employment of the police. For first-time offenders this can be dealt with via an on-the-spot S. 80 fine. For subsequent offences, it will be necessary to charge that person and bring them in front of a magistrate, who can issue a fine of up to S. 5,000 or order the accused to spend up to six months in rehabilitative custody or impose both.

Where the accused has made a false formal statement which has been entered into evidence, opportunities to retract have been given and the accused has not done so, and their false accusation was motivated by malice, a charge of perverting the course of justice may be appropriate. This is a serious offence, triable only on indictment, and carries a penalty of up to twenty years' rehabilitative custody (though the normal sentence is closer to three-four years).

Where the accused swears their testimony in court, a charge of perjury is recommended. Again, this is a serious offence, triable on indictment only, and carries a penalty of up to forty years' rehabilitative custody (though the normal sentence is closer to four years).

[Wirbel]

Howdy.

So there's a thread about the Penalties of Rape in the various nations of the NS World. I wish I could say I was shocked when I read some of the responses...half of them involved mandatory minimum sentences of over 20 years, castration, torture, or some combination of them all. Which...is heavy-handed, surely, but understandable enough when one takes the subjective position of the Victim in the situation.

But.

There is a problem with having such draconian punishments for such crimes. In lots of places around the world, the laws for what constitutes 'rape' are so vague or oddly worded that it becomes difficult to tell if it was truly 'rape' (which can be defined in as many ways as there are people to define it) and not some terrible misunderstanding or whatever else, even if there is evidence of the event at all (which is almost never). In some places, it is entirely too common for (intoxicated) people to have sex, and then one partner claims 'rape' as they regret the decision while sober (I'm looking at you, Westernized World!) And yet most of the people who responded on the other thread were fine with meting out such harsh punishments to those convicted of the crime...

So tell me - in the cases where someone has been wrongly accused of rape, and been punished as per the rules of your nation...what is there redress, and what happens to the Snake-in-the-Grass who claims to be a Victim, knowing that they were not? Does the false-Victim get their sentence? Does the Judge? Tell me, what do you think?

First, Witnesses are not used. Second, if there is not enough evidence to prove anything, then the person on trial is free. Third, if someone lies, you risk getting forced into hard labor for the rest of their lives or being shot on the spot.

[Big Brain City]

The falsely accused is given a hundred million Braineuros and the accuser is conscripted into our secret SPARTAN-V Program.
Oops...not secret anymore, though...

[Soviet Putinland]

Nothing, but the police aren't likely to help the accuser when they say their in trouble anymore. And the falsely accused gets released from prison.

[Penguinmark]

If you retract the accusation before it goes to court, you'll be fined for wasting police time and may also be forced to pay compensation to the accused person for any inconvenience caused. But if you lie in court as a witness in a rape trial, you would get imprisoned for perjury. The imprisonment varies depending on how severe the impact of the false statement was, but for rape trials would be two to five years.

[YellowApple]

Rape is a serious crime and a serious accusation in YellowApple; if it can be determined that an individual accusing another individual of rape falsified his/her testimony (i.e. gave full consent to the act, followed by claiming no consent was given, and this can be proven in court), the accuser will face a prison sentence of approximately four Gregorian years, as is the case for any false accusation of any crime.