Criminal Code 2020

Criminal Code 2020

Part 1 Criminal Process

Article 1. Criminal Jurisdiction

§1. A mute is to be defined as the inability to comment or message on either Reddit or Discord.

<ref name = "bja">Better Jurisdiction Amendment passed by the Senate on 8 June 2025 and signed by the President on 9 June 2025.</ref> §2. A person may only be prosecuted for crimes committed in r/SimDemocracy and its associated Discord server or within the jurisdiction of a competent court recognized by SimDemocracy.

§2.1. This section does not apply if a person acts on behalf of SimDemocracy and is an elected official, or legally represents SimDemocracy.

<ref name="sense">Sensible Foreign Criminal Jurisdiction Act passed and signed 7 July 2025.</ref>§2.2. This section does not apply if a person or user is the subject of an attempted prosecution for the crimes mentioned in the First Schedule of this Criminal Code 2020. Users, who are not persons as per §5 of Article 1 of this Criminal Code 2020, may be prosecuted for the crimes mentioned in the First Schedule of this Criminal Code 2020, even if they never had the intention to interact with SimDemocracy.

§3. A person may be prosecuted for crimes committed in direct messages with another person, if both are citizens of SimDemocracy.

§4. A person cannot be tried for acts committed outside the jurisdiction of SimDemocracy if already tried in a foreign court formally recognized by SimDemocracy through treaty or law.

§5. A person is defined as any user who has, or had, the capacity and intention of participating in SimDemocracy.

§6. If a crime, which directly affects SimDemocracy or persons in SimDemocracy or had the potential of doing so, is committed outside of the jurisdiction given in this article, it may be prosecuted regardless, provided the person under prosecution satisfies the principles laid out in §5.

Article 2. Burden of Proof

§1. The prosecution has the obligation of proving each element of an offense beyond a reasonable doubt. If any element of an offense cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, the defendant cannot be found guilty of that crime.

§1.1. If presenting a specific piece of evidence to establish an offense beyond a reasonable doubt would pose an existential risk to SimDemocracy, the courts may admit witness testimony in lieu of said evidence.<ref name="JUST">Amended by the Justice Using Secured Trials (JUST) Amendments</ref>

§2. The accused has the obligation of proving any defence or mitigating circumstance raised on the balance of probabilities, unless otherwise specified.

§2.1. The prosecution has an obligation of disproving any defence or mitigating circumstance successfully raised under §2 beyond a reasonable doubt, unless otherwise specified.

§3. A rebuttable presumption is taken as true until proven false. It may be rebutted on the balance of probabilities, unless otherwise specified.

Article 3. Criminal Charges

§1. The prosecution shall seek charges most applicable for the facts presented.

§2. In a case where one action fits many crimes, only one crime may be charged based on these facts; which shall be decided by the prosecution accordingly.

§2.1. An inchoate crime along with any other criminal offense shall be a valid charge.

§3. If a charge is not appropriate for a given action, yet may qualify as a criminal offense regardless, the judge may inform the prosecution and declare a mistrial.

<ref name="holdon">Hold On - Yes, Verse 1, the Amendment passed and signed on 4 May 2026</ref>§4. Should a crime be repealed or the requirements for a crime be changed between a criminal action and the beginning of proceedings, the accused must be tried under the standard concurrent to the criminal action.

§4.1. Should the requirements for a crime be changed, regardless of any section to the contrary, the presiding judge must sentence in accordance with the guidelines at the time of the criminal action.

§4.1.1. The Senate, upon making an amendment, may specify that §4.1. does not apply, in which case available sentences must be determined via normal procedure.

§4.2. The Senate, upon making such an amendment or repeal, may specify that charges can no longer be brought under the previous wording of the Article in question.

§4.2.1. Regardless, charges filed prior to the amendment may proceed under normal procedures.

§4.2.2. Regardless, criminal actions committed prior to the amendment may be charged, given they are subject to both the initial standard and the updated standard, both of which must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt to secure a conviction.

§4.3. If multiple underlying actions are used to determine the guilt of the accused, and the change in wording occurred between two of the disparate actions, §4.2.2. shall apply.

§5. If there are multiple criminal actions committed by an accused person, they may be (but not necessarily must be) tried in a single criminal trial.

§5.1. The sentence is to be individually determined for every charge the accused is guilty of and the sentence is to be all of the sentences for all of the valid charges added together, unless special circumstances justify parts of the sentences being served simultaneously.

§6. Unless a contrary intention is expressed, the statute of limitations for all offenses shall be the duration of the maximum sentence for said offense, or six (6) months, whichever is greater.

§6.1. The statute of limitations for crimes with a maximum sentence of a permanent ban shall be eighteen (18) months.

Part 2 Sentencing

Article 4. Sentencing Specifications

§1. A mute is to be defined as the inability to comment or message on either Reddit or Discord.

§2. A ban shall be considered a ban from all territories of SimDemocracy, including the Discord server and the Subreddit.

§3. The presiding judge is to follow the bounds of the sentence as specified per crime in the Criminal Code, unless a plea deal is entered.<ref name="CPA2">Amended by the Courtroom Procedures Act 2025</ref>

§3.1. Any verdict which applies a punishment not available for the specific crime is to be declared invalid by appeal or other means.

§3.2. In cases where the entered plea deal is clearly egregious and disproportionate, the judge may ignore the plea deal.

§4. Available sentences specified per crime in the Criminal Code apply once per count of a given charge.

§5. All crimes should specify sentencing guidelines; if they are not specified a maximum sentence of a ban of up to one (1) month is to be assumed.

§6. If the available sentences for a given crime are changed between the committing of a crime and the sentencing of the accused, the presiding judge shall examine both the original and new standards and apply whichever set of standards is more lenient to the accused. <ref name="meteor">Lex Meteor Amendment passed 1 May 2026 and signed 2 May 2026.</ref>

§6.1. To avoid doubt, standards which were in effect between the criminal action and sentencing, but not at either of the specified endpoints, shall not be considered by the presiding judge.

§6.2. If multiple underlying actions are used to determine the guilt of the accused, the lowest sentencing standard at the time of any of the actions shall be used by the presiding judge in making such a determination.

§6.3. This section shall only apply to the original sentencing of the accused, and later verdicts (due to retrial, remand, overturn, or otherwise) shall be bound by the sentencing standards proper for the original sentencing, as determined by this section.

§7. A punishment shall count from the time of appliance of the punishment. The appliance of the punishment should be done as quickly as possible after the declaration of the punishment.

§8. If no time after which the punishment comes into effect has been specified in the verdict or the plea deal, the punishment is to apply as soon as a person with the relevant permissions enforces the punishment.<ref name = "CPA2"/>

§9. If the determined sentence is equal to, or less than the amount of time that the defendant had already served in a mute, arrest, or pre-emptive ban it is to be determined that the defendant had already served their sentence, and the defendant is to be released.

§9.1. If the determined sentence is greater than two (2) weeks, and the defendant has already served more than half of the determined sentence in a mute, arrest or pre-emptive ban, then the length of time served shall be deducted from the sentence.

§10. The court may include an injunction in the sentence if one is necessary for the proper enforcement of the law.

§11. A month shall equal thirty days.<ref name = "CPA2"/>

Article 5. Termination or Forbiddance from Office

§1. If specified by the offense, a court may sentence a person to be terminated from or forbidden from holding certain public and private offices for a specified period of time.

§1.1. Such termination must be proportionate and relevant to the crime under trial, and preventative rather than punitive in nature.

Article 6. Rules of Punishing a Criminal Offense

§1. In considering a sentence for an Accused, the Judge shall have regard to the Sentencing Act.

§2. Notwithstanding cases described in §3, a punishment may not come into effect later than three days after the conviction.

§3. If a definition or elements of a crime have been amended between the trial of a person and the commission of a criminal act, then the definition that was enacted at the time of the commission of the crime is to be the one the person is tried for.

§4. Where an Article supplies a minimum punishment, a Judge shall have discretion to impose up to half of the minimum sentence as a suspended sentence, unless the Article is listed in the First Schedule.<ref name="PTA2025">Amended by the Penalties and Tickets Act</ref>

<ref name="tie2" />§4.1. A person shall serve a suspended sentence if a competent court determines prima facie that they have more likely than not committed a criminal offense within 3 months after the suspended sentence is enacted or they are found guilty of a crime in a competent court within 3 months after the suspended sentence is enacted.

§5. When considering a sentence for an Accused, the Judge shall not be allowed to impose a sentence of less than twice the statutory minimum sentence, if the Accused committed the offense abusing the specific capabilities and powers of their office within the State, provided such is not already required by law in order to convict for the respective statute.<ref name="keepoffices">Keep the Offices Crime-Free Amendment 2026 passed 19 April 2026 and signed 20 April 2026.</ref>

Article 7. Ignorance of Law

§1. Ignorance or mistaken interpretation of law does not deprive a defendant of liability for a crime.

Article 8. Tickets

<ref name="fines">Amendment to the Penalties and Tickets Act passed and signed on 22 September 2025.</ref> §1. Any criminal offense may be summarily punished with a Ticket, which provides for the muting of any person for no more than 48 hours on the first offense (or, at the offender’s election, a fine equal to 10% of the funds in their account, with a minimum of 40 Tau to the Department of the Treasury), and up to 96 hours for subsequent offences under the same Article (reducible to 48 hours upon payment of a fine equal to 20% of the funds in their account, with a minimum of 120 Tau to the Department of the Treasury).

Provided that –

A. Tickets may be issued by any law enforcement officer;

B. Tickets may be refused by the person it is issued to, in which case the person must be unmuted;

C. No charges may be brought against a person whom a ticket is issued to, unless the person refuses the ticket;

D. No tickets may be issued more than 3 days after the commission of an Offense; and,

E. No tickets may be issued for offences specified in the First and Second Schedule.

§2. When being issued a ticket, the person issuing the ticket shall communicate the relevant message listed below to the person ticketed, as soon as reasonably practicable, provided that the message may be provided in a different channel the user is able to view, with the user mentioned, or included as part of a ticket document, and the provision of such information shall be conclusive in determining that a person has been informed of their rights.<ref name = "NORA">Amended by the Notice of Rights Act</ref>

§2.1. The relevant message specified in §2. is as follows:

“You have the right to reject this ticket by contacting any SDBI officer, in which case the ticket will not be recorded. You will be unmuted, but charges may be brought against you. Note that rejecting the ticket may result in a higher penalty if you are tried in a court of law, but not rejecting the ticket may result in a higher penalty if you commit the relevant offence again and are issued another ticket.<ref name = "NORA"/>

§2.2. Despite any legislation to the contrary, auto-mutes by the discord bot Wick or Wick Premium shall be considered as tickets, and tickets issued by Wick shall not be required to contain the message in §2.1. if the Wick bot does not have premium features enabled, and the lack of the message in §2.1. shall not be construed to mean that a person was not informed of their rights.<ref name = "NORA"/>

§2.2.1. Despite any legislation to the contrary, a ticket issued by the Wick bot may be rejected for another person by any person with permissions to unmute a user through the Wick bot.<ref name = "NORA"/>

Part 3 Statutory defenses

Article 9. Necessity

§1. Necessity may be a possible defense in cases where a criminal offense has been committed in order to prevent greater harm.

§2. In order for the defense to be applied, the defendant shall prove that:

§2.1. The social harm of the prohibited offense they sought to avoid is higher than the social harm of the offense they have been charged with; and

§2.2. They had no reasonable alternative; and

§2.3. They have ceased to engage in the prohibited conduct as soon as the danger passed; and

§2.4. That they did not themselves create the danger they sought to avoid.

§3. If the defense is applied, the sentence for a crime may be nullified entirely or reduced.

§3.1. If deemed proportionate, the sentence may be reduced to below the minimum available sentence for an offense.

Article 10. Provocation

<ref name="veryprovoking">Very Provoking Act 2025 passed and signed 10 December 2025.</ref> §1. Provocation is to be when a person has committed a criminal act partly or fully because of a preceding set of events that might cause a reasonable person to lose self control.

§1.1. The defendant must not have contributed to escalating the preceding set of events to such a level.

§2. If provocation was partly responsible for the person committing a criminal offense, and proven based on a preponderance of the evidence, then it shall be considered a mitigating factor.

§3. If provocation was near completely, or completely, responsible for the person committing a criminal offense, and proven beyond a reasonable doubt, then it shall be considered a defense which may nullify entirely or reduce the sentence.

Article 11. Consent

§1. If the victim affected by the criminal act done by the accused has voluntarily consented to it; then it may be considered a mitigating factor; or if explicitly consented, nullify the charges entirely.

§2. Consent may be used as a defense only for a crime with a definable victim; crimes with multiple victims require the consent of all relevant victims.

§3. If a given person voluntarily consents to the act before its commitment, and then withdraws their consent after the commitment, then the defense shall still apply.

§4. Consent may be a defense for all crimes against privacy.

§5. If the defense is applied, the sentence for a crime may be nullified entirely or reduced.

§5.1. If deemed proportionate, the sentence may be reduced to below the minimum available sentence for an offense.

Article 12. Coercion

§1. A person coerced into committing a criminal act shall be considered not guilty.

§2. Coercion may be either done through threats to harass, violate privacy, or otherwise harm or threaten to harm the coerced person.

§2.1. The perceived and possible harm must be proportionate to the social harm caused by the crime committed. Persons have a responsibility not to commit a crime if at all avoidable.

§3. If the defense is applied, the sentence for a crime may be nullified entirely or reduced.

§3.1. If deemed proportionate, the sentence may be reduced to below the minimum available sentence for an offense.

Part 4 Inchoate Offenses

Article 13. Conspiracy

§1. A person shall be considered to engage in a conspiracy, when they order or request, or otherwise direct a person to commit a criminal offense; or to assist or offer material assistance in committing a crime.

§2. The available sentences for conspiracy shall be the same as for the crime that was conspired.

§3. Conspiracy to commit a crime is to be charged under “conspiracy to commit [the criminal offense]”.

§4. A person shall not be subject to charges of conspiracy if they intentionally prevented the commitment of a crime.

§4.1. The court may show clemency to those who intentionally tried to prevent the commitment of a crime.

Article 13a. Hoax

<ref name="hoaxy-pokey">Hoaxy-Pokey</ref> §1. A person shall be considered to engage in hoax when they act intentionally and maliciously or in a grossly negligent way such that they lead the reasonable person to believe they have genuinely committed a criminal offense under this document.

§1.1. The reasonable person, in this case, shall be a legal expert correctly interpreting the statutes within this document.

§2. The available sentences for hoax shall be the same as for the crime that was hoaxed.

§3. Clear and convincing evidence that the accused was acting in jest shall be a partial or complete statutory defense for actions charged under this article.

§3.1. The extent of this defense shall be decided at the judge’s discretion, considering the obviousness of the joke, the social harm the hoax created, and how funny the joke was.

§4. It shall be sufficient to convict under this article for the prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused either committed the charge in question or committed a hoax of the charge.

§4.1. No person shall be found not guilty simply because it is impossible to tell if they committed a crime or merely committed a hoax of said crime.

§5. Charges under this article shall be labelled as “[the criminal offense] hoax” or “hoax of [the criminal offense]”.<ref name="minorapril26">Minor Criminal Code, CPA and other law fixes and repeals amendments passed and signed 12 April 2026.</ref>

Article 14. Attempt

§1. A user shall be considered to attempt to commit a criminal offense, if they with their behavior directly attempt to commit a criminal offense yet do not succeed.

§2. An attempt shall also happen when the criminal does not realize they cannot commit a given criminal offense due to lack of permissions or otherwise.

§3. Exempt from being tried for attempt shall be those who intentionally ceased or prevented consequences of a certain criminal offense.

§4. The available sentences for attempt shall be the same as for the crime that was attempted.

§5. Attempts to commit a crime are to be charged under “attempt to commit [the criminal offense]”.

Article 15. Incitement

§1. A user shall be considered to incite a criminal offense, when they directly encourage or otherwise lead someone to commit a criminal offense.

§2. The available sentences for incitement shall be the same as for the crime that was incited.

§3. Incitements of a crime are to be charged under “incitement of [the criminal offense]”.

Article 16. Abuse of Alternate Accounts

§1. The person managing the alternative account shall be held criminally liable if an offense has been committed:

§1.1. Through an alternative account or,

§1.2. Where the alternative account was otherwise involved in the commission of the offense.

§1.2.1. Where the actions of the alternate account satisfy another inchoate offense, the person managing the alternate account may also be charged with the corresponding inchoate offense.

§2. An alternate account is defined as an account belonging to a person of SimDemocracy that is not the main one used for regular business.

§3. Article 23a notwithstanding, mere possession of an alternate account, or its use, shall not be prohibited if no abuse has occurred.

§4. The available sentences for abuse with alternate accounts shall be the same as for the crime that has been assisted, committed or otherwise involved in the commission of a crime.

Article 17. Coercion to Commit a Crime

§1. A person who has coerced a person into committing a criminal act is to be guilty of coercion to commit the criminal offense that has been coerced.

§1.1. The definition of coercion shall match that found in Article 12<ref name="PTA2025" />.

§2. Coercion to commit a crime is to be charged under “coercion to commit [relevant criminal offense]”.

§3. The available sentences for coercion shall be the same as for the crime that was coerced.

Article 18. Automated Crimes

§1. If a criminal act is committed by a bot; then the person responsible for addition of the bot; or the creator of the bot if such is a SimDemocracy citizen, shall be held responsible for the committed crime, provided one of the following conditions is met:

§1.1. The creation or the addition of the bot was done with the intent for the bot to commit a specific crime;

§1.2. The creator or adder of the bot did not take minimal precautions to prevent the bot from committing crimes, or was negligent in assigning powers to it;

§1.3. The creator or the adder of the bot exercised direct control over the bot, or its source code, in order to cause it to commit a crime.

§2. If a person abuses their powers to cause a bot to commit a crime, and the bot had legitimate reasons to allow the person with said power to access the offending functions of the bot, then the person abusing their power and not the creator or adder of the bot is to be held responsible.

§3. The available sentences for automated crimes shall be the same as for the crime that was automated.

Part 6 Perversion of Justice

Article 19a. Fraud

<ref name="fraud">Criminal Code 2020 and Civil Code 2025 Patches Amendment 2026 passed 24 April 2026 and signed 25 April 2026.</ref>

§1. Fraud is intentional deception to deprive a person or legal entity of a legal right, or to obtain from a person or legal entity a benefit by unlawful or unfair means.

§2. A person commits the offence of Fraud if they intentionally engage in deception and thereby—

(a) deprive, or attempt to deprive, a person or legal entity of a legal right; or,

(b) obtain, or attempt to obtain, from a person or legal entity a benefit by unlawful or unfair means.

§3. Deception for the purposes of this Article includes, but is not limited to—

(a) making a false representation of fact;

(b) presenting falsified, altered, or misleading evidence, documents, screenshots, records, or messages;

(c) dishonestly concealing a material fact in circumstances where doing so would mislead another person or legal entity; or,

(d) using any other dishonest means to create a false belief.

§4. A person shall not be guilty under this Article merely because a statement was incorrect, if the statement was made honestly and without intent to deceive.

§5. The sentences available for Fraud shall be an unlimited fine and an imprisonment, mute, or ban of up to six (6) months.

Article 19b. Perjury

<ref name="PA">Amended by the Perjury Act</ref> §1. Whoever, being legally bound by an oath or by any express provision of law to state the truth, or being bound by law to make a declaration or certification on any subject, makes a false statement, which they know or believe to be false, or do not believe to be true, commits the offense of perjury.

§2. A person is said to be legally bound by an oath if they –

(a) Provide a testimony, statement, or deposition to a member of the Department of Justice, or legally recognized investigatory body, judge, justice, panel of justices, or panel of judges;

(b) Provide information to a law enforcement officer for the purposes of an investigation; or,

(c) Have sworn or affirmed, under penalty of perjury before any legally recognized government body, having been informed that the body is a legally recognized government body, to tell the truth.

§3. The sentences available for perjury shall be an unlimited fine and a ban of duration above 1 week.<ref name="sentnov25">Criminal Code Sentences Amendment of 2025 passed and signed 17 November 2025.</ref>

Article 20. Obstruction of Justice

§1. The crime of obstruction of justice shall be knowingly engaging or attempting to engage in actions with the intent to impede a law enforcement officer in the investigation of someone’s crimes.<ref name="omnibus">December 2025 Omnibus Amendments passed and signed on 14 December 2025.</ref>

§2. Knowingly giving false or misleading information to any law enforcement officer during an investigation is to be prosecuted under this article.

§3. The sentences available for obstruction of justice shall be an unlimited fine and an imprisonment or ban of up to one (1) month.<ref name="imprison">Imprisonment Act 2025</ref>

Article 20a. Obstruction of a Financial Investigation

<ref name="banknote">Bank Note Regulations Act 2025</ref> §1. The crime of obstruction of a financial investigation shall be failing to provide legally mandated documentation within a timeframe subsequently mandated by law after receiving notice from the requesting government official, when the documentation relates to a financial service or service provider; a person also commits this crime when they provide falsified or knowingly inaccurate or incomplete documentation.

§2. The crime of obstruction of a financial investigation may be punished with a fine of up to 10,000t.

Article 20b. Obstruction of Oversight

<ref name="imprison" />

§1. The crime of obstruction of oversight shall be intentionally, or with gross negligence, preventing the Chief Ombudsman or an employee of the SDIOA from having access to information, documents, chats, or channels which they are statutorily obligated to have.

§1.1. Someone may not be found guilty for negligent obstruction of oversight unless they were clearly informed that the SDIOA should have access to the information, document, chat, or channel and did not provide it within a reasonable time frame.

§2. The available sentences for obstruction of oversight shall be a fine of no less than 400 tau and a maximum of a five (5) day imprisonment.

Article 21. Contempt

<ref name="amendment_2">Criminal Code (Amendment) Act passed 3 May 2025 and signed 4 May 2025.</ref>

Subdivision 1: Contempt of Court

Subsection 1. Definition

§1. A person who intentionally disobeys a lawful judgement or order of a court, or breaches any undertaking or legal obligation to a court, or acts in a manner that disrupts judicial proceedings or prejudices the administration of justice, commits contempt of court.

§1.1. The sentence for Contempt of Court shall be a fine of up to 2500t and a mute of up to one (1) month<ref name="contemptuous">Contemptuous Contempt Act 2026 passed by the Senate on 9 April 2026 and not vetoed by the President within 72 hours.</ref>.

§2. This Article does not affect the inherent power of a court to cause a person to be removed from the court, or the coercive power of the court to detain a person in custody until the person complies with the court’s order or direction for a period not exceeding one (1) month.

Subsection 2. Proceedings when contempt is in the face of court

§1. When it appears to a Court that any participant of the legal proceeding it currently conducts<ref name="contemptuous" /> has committed contempt in the face of the Court, and the Court is satisfied that immediate steps are necessary for the protection of the fair hearing or the administration of justice (Direct Contempt)<ref name="contemptuous" />, the Court may cause the party to be removed from the Courtroom and to be arrested, and must as soon as is practicable –

(a) Inform the person of the contempt for which they are charged;

(b) Afford the party the opportunity to, within reasonable time<ref name="contemptuous" />, make a defense against the charges, while taking any evidence as may be necessary, and,

(c) Determine guilt and make the necessary orders as to sentencing or release.

§1.1. The consent of the Attorney-General is not required for charging a person with contempt in the face of the court.

§2. For summary proceedings for Direct Contempt, the sentence shall be limited to a mute of up to one (1) week and a fine no more than the biweekly salary of the President of SimDemocracy<ref name="contemptuous" />.

Subsection 3. Indirect Contempt of Court

§1. When Contempt of Court is not committed in the face of the Court, or for other reason does not fall under Subsection 2§1 (Indirect Contempt) or when the Court so chooses for other reasons<ref name="contemptuous" />, the Court may refer the case to the Department of Justice for prosecution.

§1.1. The above section shall not preclude the Department of Justice from prosecuting a case of Contempt of Court, when the original Judges and Justices of the relevant Court are no longer able to refer the case to the Department of Justice<ref name="contemptuous" />.

§2. If the Department of Justice declines to prosecute the contempt, the Court is empowered to appoint an attorney who is willing to prosecute the contempt, to then do so.

§3. The consent of the Attorney-General is not required for cases in §2.

Subdivision 2. Contempt of Senate

§1. Contempt of the Senate is the serious disruption of the legislative proceedings of the Senate, or the disobedience towards any lawfully issued subpoena or other such order from the Senate.

§2. This Article does not affect the inherent power of the Senate to cause a person to be removed from the Senate.

§2.1. For the purposes of this Article, Senate voting on holding someone in contempt of the Senate shall be considered as referring the case to Department of Justice for prosecution.<ref name="minorapril26" />

§3. The Senate may, through a vote of the Senate, refer a case of Contempt of Senate to the Department of Justice for prosecution.<ref>Amended by the Formal Committee Sunsetting Act 2026 passed by the Senate on 2 May 2026 and signed by the President on 3 May 2026.</ref>

§4. If the Department of Justice declines to prosecute the contempt, the Speaker or respective Chairperson is empowered to appoint an attorney who is willing to prosecute the contempt, to then do so.

§5. The consent of the Attorney-General is not required for cases in §4.

§6. The sentence for Contempt of Senate shall be a fine of up to 2500t and a mute or coercive punishment of up to one (1) month.

Article 22. Making a Frivolous Claim

§1. A person commits the offense of making a frivolous claim if they:

§1.1. Make an officiated legal claim, such as a lawsuit or legal advice in an official capacity, which is manifestly without legal merit and,

§1.2. The person making that claim knows or has the duty to know that the claim they make is manifestly without legal merit.

§2. In making a determination whether the person knew or ought to know that their claim was manifestly without legal merit, the court must consider whether the person has legal experience and expertise, and whether the position the person was in or the context in which the claim was given implied the person had the duty to know that their claim was without legal merit.

<ref name="imprison" />§3. A judge, after dismissing a frivolous claim, may summarily find a person guilty of making a frivolous claim.

§3.1. Before summarily finding a party guilty of making a frivolous claim a judge must grant the party an opportunity to defend themselves and submit evidence in their defense.

<ref name="imprison" />§4. The sentences available for making a frivolous claim shall be an imprisonment of up to eight (8) hours.

Article 22a. Making a False Report

<ref name="legalhydra">Legal Hydra Amendment 2026 passed and signed 30 April 2026.</ref> <ref name="SDBI">Amended by the SDBIrritation Amendment</ref> <ref name="realhydra">Real Hydra Act passed and signed on 30 March 2026.</ref> <ref name="falsehydra">False Hydra Act Passed, Vetoed, Veto overwritten, Overwrite Vetoed, Veto overwrite veto overwritten, came into effect on the 26th of March, 2026.</ref> <ref name="decsent">Criminal Code Sentencing Amendment of December 2025 passed on 28 December 2025 and signed on 29 December 2025.</ref>

§1. A person commits the offense of making a false report if they negligently or intentionally:

§1.1. File a report to the SDBI or other emergency responders which is manifestly without legal merit, or

§1.2. Mass summon the SDBI or other emergency responders in any way in a situation that is manifestly without legal merit.

§2. In making a determination whether the person knew or ought to know that their claim was manifestly without legal merit, the court must consider the accused’s legal experience and expertise.

§3. For the purposes of this Article, an emergency responder is any government official with the legal duty to respond to reports regarding the enforcement of criminal law, the prevention of public endangerment, or the protection of the Right to Personal Safety.

§3.1. When determining whether an official is an emergency responder, the court must determine whether the duties of their position require not only responding to reports, but doing so in a timely fashion.

§4. The sentences available for making a false report shall be a mute between three (3) hours and seven (7) days.

Article 23. Resisting Arrest

§1. The crime of resisting arrest shall be defined as using any means to circumvent or otherwise avoid the lawful arrest of oneself or someone else.

§1.1. Using one’s position to argue against or deny the arrest of a person in an attempt to avoid a reasonably<ref name="misc" /> perceived case of wrongful arrest<ref name="wrongful-arrest">Amended by the Wrongful Arrest Amendment</ref> shall not constitute resisting arrest

§2. Use of an alternate account to circumvent one’s arrest, without a legitimate and proportionate reason such as to seek appeal or bail when no other communication is possible, shall be prosecuted under this article.

§3. Sentences available for this offense shall be a mute or a ban of up to one month.<ref name="decsent" />

Article 23a. Unlawful Use of Alternate Accounts

§1. A person commits the offence of unlawful use of an alternate account if they possess an alternate account on SimDemocracy’s associated Discord server with malicious intent

§2. Malicious intent shall include, but is not limited to, a purpose to circumvent punishment or evade rules.

§3. A person who uses an alternate account on the associated Discord server is rebuttably presumed to have malicious intent.

§4. A person charged with an offence under this Article is deemed to have an absolute defence if they:

§4.1. Were a Discord Supervisor, Deputy Discord Supervisor or moderator while the alternate account was used,

§4.2. Used the alternate account solely for testing technology or for some other statutory purpose or purposes, and

§4.3. Disclosed such usage publicly within a reasonable timespan

§5. <ref name="fua3">Article 23a§5 struck down by In re Fair Use of Alternate Accounts Act 2025 [2026] SDSC 1 on 3 March 2026.</ref><ref name="amend23a">Article 23a Amendment passed 29 November 2025 and signed 30 November 2025.</ref>

<ref name="fairalt" />§6. It is not necessary to prove the owner of the Alternate Account for a conviction under this Article. In this case, the defendant shall be the “Owner of Alternate Account [state the name of the Alternate Account here].<ref name="misc">Criminal Code (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act passed and signed on 16 October 2025.</ref>

§6.1. The standard of proof for determining whether an account is an Alternate Account shall be a balance of probabilities, despite any other law to the contrary.

<ref name="fairalt" />§7. The sentences available for Unlawful Use of Alternate Accounts shall be a ban of no less than three (3) weeks.

Article 24. Witness and Evidence Tampering

§1. The crime of witness tampering is to occur when anyone uses harm or a threat of harm or intimidation against a person, or corruptly persuades another person, or engages in misleading conduct towards any person, or attempts to do so, with intent to influence, delay, or prevent the testimony of any person in legal proceedings, or to prevent or influence a person legitimately seeking the arrest or filing charges against another person.

§2. The crime of evidence tampering is to occur when anyone uses harm or a threat of harm or intimidation against a person, or corruptly persuades another person, or engages in misleading conduct towards any person, or attempts to do so, with the intent to cause one of the following:

§2.1. Cause a record, document or other piece of evidence to be withheld from the proceedings;

§2.2. Evade legal process producing a record, document or other evidence in a legal proceeding;

§2.3. Hinder, delay, or prevent the communication to any legal authority of information relating to the commission or possible commission of a criminal offense.

<ref name="imprison" />§3. The sentences available for witness and evidence tampering shall be a ban of up to six (6) months.

Article 24a. Destruction of Evidence

<ref name="crimpro">Criminal Procedure Code 2025</ref>

§1. Whoever destroys or causes to be rendered illegible any document or thing which he may be lawfully compelled to produce as evidence, commits Destruction of Evidence.

<ref name="imprison" />§2. The punishment for Destruction of Evidence shall be a ban or imprisonment of no longer than one (1) month.

<ref name="misc" />§3. A person who has no reason to believe that he may be lawfully compelled to produce the document or thing shall have a defense against this charge.

Article 25. Witness Retaliation

§1. No person may intentionally cause harm or damage to a person who has been a witness in a case against the interests of said person.

<ref name="decsent" />§2. The sentences available for witness retaliation shall be an imprisonment or ban of up to one(1) year.

Article 26. Wrongful Arrest

§1. A law enforcement officer, or a person empowered to exercise such powers, commits the offence of wrongful arrest<ref name="wrongful-arrest" /> if they:

§1.1. Arrest or detain a person on fabricated charges, with the intention to arrest or detain based on knowingly fabricated charges or,

§1.2. Arrest or detain a person without reasonable and probable cause, with either the intention to arrest or detain without reasonable and probable cause, or with recklessness as to whether or not reasonable and probable cause was given.<ref name="misc" />

§2. A person commits the offence of wrongful arrest<ref name="wrongful-arrest" /> if they arrest or detain a person without authorization by law

§3. The sentences available for wrongful arrest shall be an imprisonment of up to three (3) months, and a ban from any position or role which grants the authority to arrest.<ref name="imprison" />

Article 27. Framing

§1. Framing is to be an act of knowingly providing false evidence or false testimony, or coercing others to do the same, in order to falsely convict or attempt to convict someone’s guilt of a crime, or to provide grounds for accusation for a criminal offense.

§2. The sentences available for framing shall be an imprisonment or ban of up to one (1) year.<ref name="imprison" />

Part 7 Abuse of Authority

Article 28. Discrimination

§1. No government official, government contractor<ref name="contractor" />, or a private individual may deny, restrict, preferentially provide or otherwise unfairly execute their duties or provide services because of a person's protected characteristics.

§2. Protected characteristics shall include, but are not limited to, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or social origin, ethnicity, age, disability, religion, and political beliefs, or any other characteristic listed in Article 13 of the Constitution.

<ref name="decsent" />§3. The sentences available for discrimination on the basis of protected characteristics shall be an unlimited fine, a ban or a mute of up to six (6) months, and termination or prohibition of holding certain private or public offices for a certain period of time not exceeding six(6) months.

Article 29. Abuse of Power

§1. A government official commits the offense of abuse of power if they commit an act which they had no legal right or authority to commit with malicious intent and causing social harm, knowing they had no legal right or authority to do so, or with recklessness as to whether or not they had the legal right or authority.

<ref name="imprison" />§2. The sentences available for abuse of power shall be an unlimited fine and an imprisonment or ban of up to one (1) year, and termination or prohibition of holding certain public offices, relevant to the abuse of power which was committed, for a period of time not exceeding six (6) months.

§3. Abuse of power must be committed through the official capacity of one’s office.

Article 29a. Departmental Financial Misconduct

<ref name="robbing">No More Robbing the Reserves Act 2025</ref> §1. Any department head shall commit the crime of Departmental Financial Misconduct if they spend more money than is allocated in senate interim funding resolutions in their respective departments

§2. Departmental heads have a duty to know how much money is allocated to their departments.

§3. This shall apply to the heads of all statutory and non-statutory departments

§4. The sentences for committing the crime of Departmental Financial Misconduct shall be a minimum of one day mute, up to a 2 week long mute, as well as removal from office.

Article 30. Abuse of Discretion

§1. Abuse of discretion is to be misuse of the powers of any government official, employee, or contractor to inappropriately and maliciously benefit private or personal interests.<ref name="contractor">Contractor Agency Act</ref><ref name="minorapril26" />

<ref name="imprison" />§2. The sentences available for abuse of discretion shall be an imprisonment or ban of up to one (1) month, and termination or prohibition of holding certain public offices, relevant to the abuse of discretion which was committed, for a period of time not exceeding three (3) months.

Article 30a. Unauthorized Infiltration

<ref name="contractor" />

§1. A person commits unauthorized infiltration if such person enters or infiltrates an organization or nation in bad faith and with the intention to surveil or spy upon, or disrupt that entity on behalf of SimDemocracy, without both employment in the SimDemocracy government and proper authorization from the relevant SimDemocracy department head.

§1.1. If a person charged with unauthorized infiltration is suspected by reasonable doubt to be a contractor of any sort, then the Department of Justice may subpoena any records from both the contractor and contractee to confirm the contractor-contractee relationship.

§2. This excludes any actions taken by individuals on behalf of a foreign nation, so long as the affected nation is not SimDemocracy.

§3. A contractor found guilty of unauthorized infiltration shall be sentenced to a ban of at least two months.

Article 30b. Breach of Public Accountability

<ref name="nocap">National Officeholder Conduct and Accountability Policy Act 2025</ref>

§1. A violation of any provision of Article 2 of the National Officeholder Conduct and Accountability Policy Act 2025 shall constitute the crime of Breach of Public Accountability.

§2. Any citizen of SimDemocracy may prosecute a charge of Breach of Public Accountability regardless of any other laws regarding criminal prosecution.

§3. Any case of Breach of Public Accountability may be dismissed in Pre-Trial if the conflict of interest is extremely minor and inconsequential.

§4. Any person convicted of Breach of Public Accountability shall be fined up to 5000 tau or sentenced to up to 2 months imprisonment or both.<ref name="jan26">NO CAP Amendments 2026 passed and signed 17 January 2026.</ref>

<ref name="jan26" />§5. Any person convicted of Breach of Public Accountability may also, depending on the severity of the offense(s), be :

a. Removed from any Public Office(s), used in the commission of the crime, as defined in National Officeholder Conduct and Accountability Policy Act 2025.

b. Prohibited from holding any new Public Officers as defined in National Officeholder Conduct and Accountability Policy Act 2025 for a period of up to 4 weeks.

Article 30c: Improperly Conducting an Infiltration Operation

<ref name="piss">Planning Infiltration Super Safely Act 2025</ref> §1. The crime of improperly conducting an infiltration operation shall be conducting an infiltration operation in a way that carelessly disregards or deliberately does not follow the regulations set for them in the law.

§2. The crime of improperly conducting an infiltration operation is to be punished with removal and banning of being in any position that will be involved in infiltration operations for a minimum of one month and a minimum of a one week mute.

Article 31. Misuse of Permissions

<ref name = "CCCA">Amended by the Criminal Code Cleanup Act passed 29 March 2025 and signed 31 March 2025.</ref> §1. Whoever knowingly and intentionally uses their permissions and powers inappropriately, in a manner not related to the official work for which the permissions and powers are given, commits the crime of Misuse of Permissions.

§2. There must be demonstrable social harm to prosecute under this Article.

<ref name="decsent" />§3. The sentences available for Misuse of Permissions shall be an imprisonment or a mute of up to one (1) month.

Article 32. Harmful Misinformation

<ref name="imprison" />

§1. The crime of harmful misinformation is for a government official, employee, or contractor to intentionally and maliciously relay false, misleading, or otherwise incorrect information to any person(s) in a way which leads directly to social harm.

§1.1. For someone to have committed harmful misinformation they must have relayed the misinformation through means uniquely granted to them by their position as a government official, employee, or contractor or in a way which the information would reasonably be seen as being presented officially in relation to their position, and have presented the information in an unequivocally serious way.

§2. Classified information shall be considered unknown to any official, unless otherwise proven on balance of probabilities.

§3. The sentences available for public misinformation shall be an imprisonment of up to two (2) weeks.

Part 8 Crimes Against Public Interest

Article 33. Dereliction of Duty

<ref name="ssca">Speedy Supreme Court Act 2025 passed 18 December 2025 and signed 19 December 2025.</ref>§1. The crime of dereliction of duty shall be:

(a) wilfully failing to perform the required duties of a governmental position under law or otherwise,

(b) intentionally incapacitating oneself in such a way that one cannot perform their duties, without reasonable excuse or without resigning from their post, or

(c) failing to comply with time limits under the law.

§2. In order for a person to be convicted for dereliction of duty; they must be in a government position where no official has authority to directly terminate their employment, and they must be notified prior to being charged that their actions constitute dereliction of duty.

§3. The crime of dereliction of duty is to be punished with removal from the relevant public office if at all possible under Article 4. Should this not be possible, a mute or ban of up to one (1) month may be applied.

Article 34. Repealed

<ref name="repeal34">Article 34: Dereliction of National Interest was repealed by Senate motion on 8 August 2025, and signed by the President on 10 August 2025.</ref>

Article 35. Political Coercion

§1. Whoever willfully, intentionally and maliciously uses harassment, intimidation or corruption in order to expressly change the decisions of government officials for their own personal gain commits the crime of political coercion.<ref name="minorapril26" />

§1.1. The civil lobbying of individuals or interest groups for government officials to make decisions in their favor shall not be construed to violate this article.

§2. The crime of political coercion is to be punished by a mute or ban of up to one (1) year, and a ban from public office for up to one (1) year.

Part 9 Electoral Crimes

Article 36. Electoral Crimes

§1. Offenses listed under this part are to be categorized as electoral crimes.

§2. Elections are used in reference to all elections, referendums or other public democratic voting processes done by the government, which are established by statute and legally binding.

§3. All electoral crimes shall be considered committed under SimDemocracy jurisdiction.

Article 37. Election Fraud

§1. Election fraud is the crime of unlawfully interfering in an election by the use of alternate accounts or other methods of producing illegitimate votes which are not cast legally by citizens of SimDemocracy, in order to influence election results.

<ref name="decsent" />§2. The sentences available for election fraud shall be a ban of no less than one (1) month

Article 37a. Fraudulent Voter Registration

<ref name="VRA2023">Amended by the Voting Rights Act 2023, Article 6</ref> §1. A person commits fraudulent voter registration if they:

§1.1. Registered to vote while already being registered, and either

§1.2. Intended to register while being registered to vote, or

§1.3. Had no intention to register while being registered to vote, but nevertheless:

<ref name="iedvr" />§1.3.1. Did not give prompt valid notification to the Registry Commission<ref name="misc" /> once they knew or ought to have known that they had erroneously re-registered, and

§1.3.2. Did not promptly deregister in the case of automatic registration once they knew or ought to have known that they had erroneously re-registered.

§2. A notification to the Registry Commission<ref name="misc" /> under §1.3 of this Article shall only be considered valid if it is accompanied with clear and convincing evidence that the person owns the erroneously registered account.

§3. The sentences available for fraudulent voter registration shall be a ban between two (2) weeks and one (1) year.

Article 37b. Misrepresentation to Electoral Authorities

<ref name="iedvr">Including and Enabling the Department of Voter Registration Act 2025</ref> §1. A person commits misrepresentation to Electoral Authorities if they give false or misleading information to the Electoral Commission and/or Registry Commission<ref name="misc" />.

§2. A person commits fraudulent misrepresentation to Electoral Authorities if they:

§2.1. Give false or misleading information to the Electoral Commission and/or Registry Commission<ref name="misc" /> and,

§2.1.1. False or misleading information shall include, but shall not be limited to registering with an account that is not owned or operated by the user that registered, voting with another individual’s SimDemocracy Identification Token, and registering with more accounts than one’s primary account.

§2.2. Either know the information was false or misleading, or are reckless as to whether the information was untrue or not.

§3. It shall be an absolute defence to a crime under §1 of this Article if the accused person:

§3.1. Acted with reasonable due diligence and good faith in giving the false or misleading information, and either

§3.2. Promptly notified the Electoral Commission and/or Registry Commission<ref name="misc" /> of the false or misleading information once they knew it was false or misleading, or

§3.3. Did not know that the information was false or misleading.

§4. The sentences available for misrepresentation to Electoral Authorities shall be a mute or ban between one (1) day and three (3) months.

§5. The sentences available for fraudulent misrepresentation to Electoral Authorities shall be a ban between two (2) weeks and one (1) year.

Article 39. Voter Suppression

§1. Voter suppression is the act of coercion or criminal threatening in order to force a person to vote for a given candidate or change their vote, or criminal threatening and harassment as a result of a person’s vote for a given candidate.

§1.1. Lobbying and campaigning on behalf of a candidate shall not be construed as a violation of this article.

§2. The sentences available for voter suppression shall be a ban of between two (2) weeks and six (6) months.

Article 40. Incumbent Election Interference

§1. The crime of incumbent election interference is to be promoting, encouraging, or otherwise influencing an election campaign through the illegitimate abuse of a governmental office.

§2. Incumbent election interference includes the use of public announcement channels for election campaigning.

§2.1. The announcement of support of a particular candidate by the incumbent, without additional campaigning material, shall not be restricted under this article.

<ref name="imprison" />§3. The sentences available for incumbent election interference shall be an imprisonment between one day and one month.

Article 41. Vote Buying

§1 Vote buying is the act of offering goods and/or services to a citizen(s), including but not limited to tau, in exchange for a particular outcome in an election.

<ref name="imprison" />§2. The sentences available for the crime of vote buying shall be an imprisonment of no less than two (2) weeks and no greater than one (1) year.

Part 10 Crimes Against The State

Article 43. Alternate Account Registry

<ref name="fairalt">Fair Use of Alternate Accounts Act 2025</ref> §1. The consent of the Attorney-General is required to initiate proceedings under this Article.

Subdivision 1: Failure to declare Alternate Account

<ref name="fairalt" /> §1. Any person who fails to declare their Alternate Account to the Alternate Account Registry established in the Fair Use of Alternate Accounts Act 2025 within 72 hours of the Alternate Account being added commits the crime of “Failure to declare Alternate Account”.

§2. An Alternate Account is an account owned or operated by a person on any platform on which SimDemocracy is located, which is not the account they most commonly use on that platform of SimDemocracy.

§3. An account is said to be added when it joins or is otherwise included in any platform of SimDemocracy.

§4. Any person who does not declare an alternate account already added to any SimDemocracy Platform within one (1) week of the passage of the Fair Use of Alternate Accounts Act 2025 also commits the crime of “Failure to declare Alternate Account”.

§5. The punishment for Failure to declare Alternate Account shall be a mute or ban of no less than one (1) week.

§6. If an alternate account is in any way used to further the commission of a crime, or to commit a crime, the punishment shall be no less than one (1) month, or the minimum punishment for the crime(s) committed, whichever is higher.

Subdivision 2: False Declaration of Alternate Account

<ref name="fairalt" /> §1. Any person who falsely declares an account as their Alternate Account in the Alternate Account Registry established in the Fair Use of Alternate Accounts Act 2025 commits the crime of “False Declaration of Alternate Account”.

§2. The punishment for False Declaration of Alternate Account shall be a mute or ban of no less than three (3) weeks.

§3. A person who proves on a balance of probabilities that they falsely declared the Alternate Account in good faith, or due to a genuine mistake, without intent to mislead any government agency shall have a punishment of a mute or ban shall be a mute or ban of no less than one (1) week.”

Article 44. Treason

<ref name="tie2" />§1. A person commits treason if they conspire or attempt to overthrow or undermine the government and the constitutional-democratic order of SimDemocracy illegally.

§2. Treason committed by a person outside of the jurisdiction of SimDemocracy shall be prosecuted regardless.

§3. The sentences available for treason shall be a ban of duration above one (1) month.

Article 45. Destruction of National Documents

§1. Destruction of national documents is to be intentional destruction, deletion or otherwise removal of documents produced under official capability of a governmental office, or where the preservation of the documents are established through law.

§2. Any documentation produced under a governmental office is to be under SimDemocracy jurisdiction.

§3. In order for deletion of national documents to be lawful there needs to be either a relevant statute relating to such; or authorization from a relevant authority.

§4. The sentences available for destruction of national documents shall be a ban of between one (1) day and a lifetime ban.

Article 46. Impersonation of an Official

§1. Impersonation of an official is maliciously pretending to be another person or maliciously acting in order to mislead another person of one’s possessed offices, authorities or other permissions.

<ref name="imprison" />§2. The sentences available for impersonation of an official shall be an imprisonment or ban between one (1) week and six (6) months.

Article 46a. Stolen Valour

§1. A person commits stolen valour if they:

§1.1. Act or present themselves in a way which would mislead a reasonable person into believing that they possessed an honour or commendation which they did not have, and

§1.2. Did so with the intention to mislead people into believing that they possessed such an honour or commendation.

§2. A person charged with an offence under this Article is deemed to have an absolute defence if they committed the act for the purposes of jest or satire.

<ref name="decsent" />§3. The sentences available for stolen valour shall be an imprisonment of up to two (2) weeks.

Article 47. Embezzlement

§1. Whoever as an official utilizes or obtains government property or resources, monetary or otherwise, for private purposes outside of the legal powers given to them by the official position, commits the crime of embezzlement.

<ref name="imprison" />§2. The sentences available for embezzlement shall be an imprisonment between one (1) day and one (1) month.

Article 48. Revealing State Secrets

§1. Whoever releases to the public information held as classified state secrets by the appropriate authorities, and therefore causing social harm by the release of such information, commits the crime of revealing state secrets.

§1.1. Whistleblowing, or the releasing of such documents for the purpose of public interest, shall not constitute a violation of this article.

<ref name="decsent" />§2. The sentences available for revealing state secrets shall be an unlimited fine and a mute or ban between one (1) day and 3 (3) months.

Article 49. Brigading and Raiding

§1. Whoever posts in the SimDemocracy Discord server or subreddit or utilizes its political processes with the sole intent to cause disruption and distress to the community at large, without a wish to earnestly participate in any activities and processes within SimDemocracy, commits the crime of brigading and raiding.

§2. The sentences available for brigading and raiding shall be a ban of duration above three (3) months.

Article 50. Spamming

<ref name="mod_pkg_2">Modernization Package II</ref> §1. A person commits the crime of Spamming if they repeatedly send messages, pings, images, or other forms of communication with the primary purpose of disrupting conversation, overwhelming communication channels, or causing annoyance to others, and do so without genuine intent to participate in good faith.

§2. Spamming may be committed through manual or automated means.

§3. The sentence for Spamming shall be a mute or ban between six (6) hours and one (1) year.

<ref name="bumpy">Bumpy Banga Legislation Amendment passed 7 June and signed 9 June 2025.</ref>§3.1. If it can be proven, on the preponderance of the evidence, that the accused joined SimDemocracy for the purpose of spamming and/or other related crimes, the maximum sentence shall be extended to a permanent ban and the framework provided in the Sentencing Act disregarded

Article 50a. Advertising external locations forbidden

<ref name="adblock">Advertising Prevention Act 2025 passed and signed on 26 September 2025.</ref>§1. No person shall send messages containing advertisements to an external location outside of such channels as are prescribed by the President for the purposes of advertisement.

§1.1. In this article, “external location” means an external Discord server, subreddit, or other similar location, which is not used primarily for the purposes of communication for a government body or legally-recognized association within SimDemocracy.<ref name="tie2">Tie's Amendment to the Criminal Code II passed and signed 13 December 2025.</ref>

§2. For the purposes of this article, a person is advertising if they –

§2.1. Send a message containing a link to an external location, or

§2.2. Send a message containing directions to obtain a link to an external location,

but this list shall not be deemed to be exhaustive.

§3. A person shall be liable on conviction to a mute of no longer than 30 days, and shall also be subject to fine.

Article 51. Terrorist Conspiracy

Division 1. Terrorist Connected Accounts Act Terrorism

<ref name="terrorist_connected_accts">Terrorist Connected Accounts Act</ref> §1. A person engages in terrorist conspiracy if they commit terrorism against the individual as described in the Terrorist Connected Accounts Act, Article 1: Terrorism Against The Individual, is a member and supporter of a terrorist organization as described in the Terrorist Connected Accounts Act, Article 2: Terrorist Organizations, or meets the standards for committing terrorism or being a terrorist under any other law.<ref name="minorapril26" />

§2. The sentence shall be a fine between 1,000 to 10,000 tau and a ban between three (3) months and a permanent ban.

Division 2. Proscribed Organizations

<ref name="top">Terrorist Organizations (Prevention) Act 2025 passed by the Senate and signed by the President on 26 July 2025</ref>

Subdivision 1. Definitions

§1. In this division –

§1.1. The Designated Crimes are the crimes listed in the Fourth Schedule.

§1.2. A Proscribed Organization is an organization which has been –

(a) Found by a court to have directly or indirectly engaged in preparing, planning, assisting in or fostering the doing of any of the Designated Crimes; or,

(b) Designated by the President, if the President is satisfied that the organization poses a credible and substantial threat to the safety of SimDemocracy or its citizens.

(c) Found by a court, on the balance of probabilities, to be an organization previously designated under (a) or (b) which has formed under a different name, or reformed after dissolution.

§1.2.1. Before the President designates or revokes the designation of a Proscribed Organization pursuant to §1.2(b), the President must obtain the consent of –

(a) A majority of the Senate; or,

(b) The Chief Ombudsman, established by the Government Oversight Act 2025.

§1.2.2. If the President is no longer satisfied that an organization which is designated pursuant to §1.2(b) is a Proscribed Organization, he may revoke the designation pursuant to §1.2.1.

§1.3. The word “member” includes –

(a) A person who is an informal member of a Proscribed Organization; and,

(b) A person who has taken steps to become a member of a Proscribed Organization.

§2. In proceedings under this division, the following are examples of acts which may, under certain circumstances, prove that a person is a member of a Proscribed Organization –

(a) Joining a Discord Server, Subreddit, or other such location which is used for the purposes of supporting a Proscribed Organization; or,

(b) Making public statements for a Proscribed Organization.

§3. A person’s claim that they did not know a certain fact shall only be accepted if they were not also willfully blind to the fact.

§4. This Division does not apply when the Attorney-General authorizes, in writing, the person to undertake actions disallowed by Subdivision 2,3,4 and 5.

Subdivision 2. Prohibition of membership in Proscribed Organization

§1. A person who is a member of a Proscribed Organization commits an offence.

Subdivision 3. Prohibition of providing material support to Proscribed Organization

§1. A person who provides material support to a Proscribed Organization in the commission of a Designated Crime commits an offence.

§2. A person who assists in financing a Proscribed Organization commits an offence.

§3. The provision of legal support in court does not constitute support under this subdivision.

Subdivision 4: Prohibition of association with Proscribed Organization

§1. A person who associates with a Proscribed Organization, or any of its members, commits an offence.

§2. This subdivision does not apply to persons who represent a member of a Proscribed Organization in a court of law, and do not associate with the member or organization for any other reason.

Subdivision 5. Prohibition of leading or directing the activities of Proscribed Organization

§1. A person who leads or directs the activities of a Proscribed Organization commits an offence.

Subdivision 6. Penalty for Offences

§1. A person who commits an offence under Subdivision 2 or 3 shall be punished with a ban no less than six (6) months.

<ref name="decsent" />§2. A person who commits an offence under Subdivision 4 shall be punished with a mute or ban no less than two (2) weeks.

§2.1. In sentencing, the Judge shall have due regard to whether a person, through their association, assisted in the activities of the Proscribed Organization.

§3. A person who commits an offence Subdivision 5 –

(a) When the Proscribed Organization is designated in accordance with subdivision 1, §1.2(a) or (c) <ref name="misc" />(whether or not the organization was designated in accordance with subdivision 1, §1.2(b)), shall be sentenced to a ban of no less than 1 year, and shall also be liable to fine.

(b) When the Proscribed Organization is designated only in accordance with subdivision 1, §1.2(b), shall be sentenced to a ban of no less than 5 months, and shall also be liable to fine.

Article 52. Racketeering

<ref name="terrorist_connected_accts">Terrorist Connected Accounts Act</ref> §1. Racketeering is the act of knowingly holding funds on behalf of an individual or group to conceal them.

§2. A person found guilty of racketeering may be sentenced to forfeiture of all funds being racketeered and a ban for up to six (6) weeks.

<ref name="misc" />§3. An account’s funds may be frozen by order of a Judge if the owner(s) of the accounts in question is attempting or may reasonably be suspected to attempt to transfer them to other accounts to hide them from prosecution, detection, or fines.

§3.1. Lawyers and other legal representatives cannot have their funds frozen for this reason if those funds were exchanged for legal services.

§3.2. The court may require the accounts to return the suspected racketeer’s racketeered funds that they transferred to them if it is deemed part of an effort to conceal the funds from the Department of Justice or the Courts during trial.

§4. There shall be a statute of limitations for violations of this Article of up to eighteen (18) months.

Article 53. Tax Evasion

<ref name="bbtx">Bank Balance Tax Act</ref>§1. The crime of Tax Evasion shall occur when a person intentionally avoids paying a lawfully levied tax liability, through either direct or indirect means.

§1.1. Intentionally spreading tau over multiple bank accounts to reduce tax liability shall constitute maliciously avoiding taxes for the purposes of this article.

§1.2. Spending tau on goods, services, or in other sanctioned channels shall not be construed as intentionally avoiding a wealth or bank balance tax, unless done with malicious intent.

§2. The sentences available for Tax evasion shall be a fine of at least double the estimated value of the evaded taxes, with no maximum fine, as well as a mute of no more than two (2) weeks.

Part 11 Crimes Against The Person

Article 54. Poaching

§1. A person commits the offense of poaching if, on the joining of a new member to SimDemocracy they engage with them for the primary purpose of either convincing them to leave SimDemocracy or to join another, unrelated community.

§2. Poaching shall only be illegal during the first seven (7) days of the individual joining the relevant part of SimDemocracy.

§2.1. Individuals rejoining the server after a period greater than one (1) year shall be considered new with regards to poaching.<ref name = "CCCA"/>

<ref name="decsent" />§3. The sentences available for poaching shall be a fine of up to one thousand (1000) tau and an imprisonment or a mute up to three (3) weeks

Article 55. Violation of Privacy

§1. A person commits the offence of violation of privacy if they collect, retain, or process personal data without lawful basis.

§2. A person charged with an offence under this Article is deemed to have an absolute defence if they:

§2.1. Were given unlawfully collected, retained, or processed data by someone else which they did not explicitly or implicitly ask for,

§2.2. Promptly deleted all copies of the unlawfully collected, retained, or processed data, and

§2.3. Promptly notified the SDBI or other competent authority that they were given the unlawfully collected, retained, or processed data by someone else, specifically naming the person or people who handed them that data.

<ref name="decsent" />§3. The sentences available for violation of privacy shall be a mute or ban above six (6) months, and a ban from any office which allows them to access personal data of unlimited duration.

§4. There shall be no statute of limitations for violations of this Article.

Article 55a. Doxxing

§1. A person commits the offence of doxxing if they disclose personally identifying information<ref name="misc" /> without lawful basis.

§2. A person commits aggravated doxxing if they disclose personally identifying information<ref name="misc" /> without lawful basis and with malicious intent.

§3. Malicious intent shall include, but is not limited to, having a purpose to cause the victim to suffer harassment or some other real life consequence.

§4. A person who discloses personally identifying information<ref name="misc" /> without lawful basis is rebuttably presumed to have done so with malicious intent.

§5. A person charged with an offence under §1 of this Article is deemed to have a mitigating circumstance if they:

§5.1. Had lawful basis to retain the otherwise unlawfully disclosed personally identifying information<ref name="misc" />,

§5.2. Had no intention to disclose the personally identifying information<ref name="misc" /> without lawful basis,

§5.3. Promptly deleted all posts and messages containing the unlawfully disclosed personally identifying information<ref name="misc" />,

§5.4. Promptly notified the relevant data subjects of the unlawful disclosure,

§5.5. Promptly notified the SDBI or other competent authority that they had unlawfully disclosed personally identifying information<ref name="misc" />, and

§5.6. Had acted in good faith throughout.

<ref name="sentnov25" />§6. The sentences available for doxxing shall be a ban of duration above one (1) year.

§6.1. The sentences available for doxxing with a mitigating circumstance under §5 of this Article shall be a mute or ban between one (1) month and one (1) year, and a ban from any office which allows them to access personally identifying information<ref name="misc" /> of unlimited duration.

§7. The sentences available for aggravated doxxing shall be a ban of permanent duration.

§8. There shall be no statute of limitations for violations of this Article.

Article 55b. Threats to Doxx

§1. A person who, having access or having claimed access to personally identifying information<ref name="misc" />, threatens to unlawfully disclose it commits the crime of making threats to doxx.

§2. A person who acts in a way which would give the reasonable person an impression that they had access to personally identifying information<ref name="misc" /> shall be deemed to have claimed access to personally identifying information<ref name="misc" /> for the purposes of this Article.

§3. The sentences available for making threats to doxx shall be a ban of permanent duration.

§4. There shall be no statute of limitations for violations of this Article.

Article 56. Harassment

<ref name="fixharass">Harassment Definition Fixing Act 2025 passed and signed on 18 December 2025.</ref><ref name="clonewars">Clone Wars Act 2026 passed 20 April 2026 and signed 23 April 2026.</ref>

§1. A person commits harassment if they repeatedly caused a person or group of persons to feel undue or unjustifiable apprehension, alarm, or distress.

§2. A person who repeatedly causes a person or group of persons to feel undue or unjustifiable apprehension, alarm, or distress is rebuttably presumed to have done so with intent.

§3. It is a defense –

(a) for a person to prove that their conduct was reasonable under the circumstances; or,

(b) for a person to prove that they had taken reasonable care to ensure that their behavior would not be perceived by the victim(s).

§4. If it is found that the person acted intentionally, then the sentence shall be a ban of duration above six (6) months. Otherwise, the sentence shall be a ban between one (1) month and one (1) year.

Article 56a. Hate Speech

§1. A person commits hate speech if they:

§1.1. Submit, post, or relay speech that is upsetting, demeaning, or humiliating about a person’s or a group of people’s protected characteristics, and

§1.2. Had the intention to upset, demean, or humiliate, or acted carelessly or recklessly as to whether their actions would upset, demean, or humiliate.

§2. For the purposes of this Article, a person shall always be considered as submitting, posting, or relaying speech that is upsetting, demeaning, or humiliating about a person’s or a group of people’s protected characteristics if they:

§2.1. Use a slur, which is any derogatory or insulting term applied to a group of persons classed by a protected characteristic, or

§2.2. Claim to identify as a purported gender with the purpose to upset, demean, or humiliate a person’s or group of people’s protected characteristic.

§3. The fact that the upsetting, demeaning, or humiliating speech was not directed to a specific person or group of people is immaterial to establishing criminal liability under this Article.

§3.1. The fact that the upsetting, demeaning, or humiliating speech did not subjectively upset, demean, or humiliate a specific person or group of persons is immaterial to establishing criminal liability under this Article.

§4. The sentences available for hate speech shall be a mute or ban of a duration above one (1) month.

Article 56b. Misgendering

<ref name = "CCCA"/> §1. A person commits the crime of misgendering if they:

§1.1. Refer to a person by a name they used prior to gender transition with the intention to deny, invalidate, or mock that person’s gender identity, or

§1.2. Refer to or label another person with a gender that does not match their gender identity with the intention to deny, invalidate, or mock that person’s gender identity.

§2. A reference to gender identity under this Article shall not be construed to include purported gender identities created for the purpose to cause upset, demean, or humiliate a person’s protected characteristics.

§3. The sentences available for misgendering shall be a mute or ban above three (3) weeks.

Article 57. Sexual Harassment

§1. Whoever in an unsolicited manner sends or displays sexually explicit<ref name = "CCCA"/> material to another person without consent, including through text, voice or other media, or acts in such a manner as to solicit or be interpreted by a reasonable person to be soliciting sexually explicit<ref name = "CCCA"/> activities from another person without consent, commits the crime of sexual harassment.

§2. Whoever commits the acts detailed in §1 to a person claiming to be under 18 years of age commits the crime of child sexual harassment.

§3. The sentences available for sexual harassment shall be a ban of duration above one (1) year.

§4. The sentences available for child sexual harassment shall be a ban of permanent duration.

§5. There shall be no statute of limitations for violations of this article.

Article 58. Failure to Report Sexual Harassment

§1. Whoever holding a relevant official position, observing or having knowledge of activities that could be interpreted by a reasonable person as a violation of Article 57<ref name = "CCCA"/>, and having the authority, ability or power to act against and prosecute the action, knowingly fails to do so, commits the crime of failure to report sexual harassment.

§1.1. Should acting against the relevant activity cause undue risk and harm to the official, or if the official is the victim of the alleged crime, then the person shall not be construed as violating this article.

§2. The sentences available for failure to report sexual harassment shall be a mute or ban of between one (1) week and six (6) months.

Article 59. Obscene Materials

§1. Whoever posts content in a venue that could be viewed by the public that consists of gore, violence, or other materials not suitable for viewing in a public place, and would cause distress to a reasonable person, commits the crime of posting obscene materials.

<ref name="decsent" />§2. The sentences available for posting obscene materials shall be a mute or ban of duration above three (3) weeks.

Article 60. Making Criminal Threats

§1. A person commits the offence of making a criminal threat if they:

§1.1. Threatened another person or group of persons with suffering or harm, and

§1.2. Had the intention to cause apprehension, alarm, or distress, or acted with reckless disregard as to whether their actions would cause apprehension, alarm or distress.<ref name="minorapril26" />

§2. A person who threatens another person or group of persons with suffering or harm shall be rebuttably presumed to have done so with the intention to cause apprehension.

§3. The sentences available for making criminal threats shall be a mute or ban between one (1) month and one (1) year.

Article 61. Impersonation

§1. Whoever in a deliberate and malicious manner behaves in such a way as to cause the general public to believe that they are another person, and thereby assuming their identity and committing acts on their behalf, commits the crime of impersonation.

<ref name="decsent" />§2. The sentences available for impersonation shall be an imprisonment or ban between one (1) week and three (3) months.

Article 62. Blackmail

§1. A person who, having access to privileged information about another, threatens to disclose this information as an incentive for the individual to perform or not perform an action commits the crime of blackmail.

<ref name="decsent" /> §2. The sentences available for blackmail shall be a mute or ban between one (1) week and one (1) year.

Article 63. Abuse of Vulnerability

§1. A person commits the crime of abuse of vulnerability if they exploit another person’s vulnerable or fragile mental state with malicious intent.

§2. Malicious intent shall include, but is not limited to, having a purpose to cause the exploited person to feel apprehension, or having a purpose of personal gain.

§3. A person who exploits another person’s vulnerable or fragile mental state shall be rebuttably presumed to have done so with malicious intent.

§4. The sentences available for abuse of vulnerability shall be a mute or ban above one (1) month.

Part 12 Terms of Service Violations

Article 64. Terms of Service Violation

§1. Whoever breaches the Terms of Service, Community Guidelines, or other binding document of the platform where the crime is committed, in a manner in which SimDemocracy is expected and able to enforce, commits the crime of Terms of Service Violation.

§2. The sentences available for Terms of Service Violation shall be a mute or ban of up to a lifetime and shall be individually determined in each case, taking into account the specific provision violated and the effects of the violatory action.

§3. This article may be prosecuted under retroactively, that is to say any act or omission which did not constitute a criminal offense in the Criminal Code at the time when it was committed may still be prosecuted if it falls under this article.

Schedules

First Schedule

• Doxxing;
• Threats to Dox;
• First Degree Harassment;
• Sexual Harassment;
• Failure to Report Sexual Harassment;
• Blackmail;
• Abuse of Vulnerability; and,
• Terrorist Conspiracy<ref name="summtrial">Summary Trials Act</ref><ref name="crimpro" />

Second Schedule

• Inchoate Offences<ref name="tie">Inchoate offenses moved from First Schedule to Second by Tie's Amendment to the Criminal Code</ref>;
• Offences under Perversion of Justice except for Making a Frivolous Claim;
• Offences under Crimes Against Public Interest;
• Offences under Electoral Crimes;
• Terms of Service Violation;<ref name="crimpro" />
• Racketeering;<ref name="crimpro" />
• All articles under Crimes Against the State with the exception of Spamming and Brigading, and Voice Chat Disruption.

Third Schedule

<ref name="crimpro" />

• Obstruction of Justice
• Misuse of Permissions
• Revealing State Secrets
• Brigading and Raiding
• Spamming
• Voice Chat Disruption.

Fourth Schedule

<ref name="top" />

• Election Fraud
• Voter Suppression
• Treason
• Brigading and Raiding
• Spamming and Brigading
• Violation of Privacy
• Harassment
• Misgendering
• Sexual Harassment
• Blackmail
• Abuse of Vulnerability
• Doxxing
• Threats to Doxx

Citations

<references />