Laws of Cormyr

The laws of Cormyr covered various recorded rules, regulations, proclamations, and guidelines that determined which activities were permitted or forbidden, along with those that had to be undertaken in a specific manner. These laws regulated matters that pertained to, among others, military, mercantile, bureaucratic, and adventuring interests along with those surrounding the arcane arts. "Laws and rules must be observed at all times. Even by kings. For if a realm is a bright-armored knight, every rule broken is a piece torn away from his armor that a traitor's blade can thrust through later, with its wielder crying, "But in days gone by, so-and-so set aside this rule, why then cannot I?""

- Vangerdahast Aeiulvana

Reputation
Cormyrean law was highly regarded by the people, who believed it was the monarchs' laws, enforced by Purple Dragons and militias, that tamed the wilderness and brought order and peace, and was the foundation for the kingdom's greatness. These laws were to be applied with compassion and diligence in balance, so that criminals neither went free nor feared for their lives without reason.

National Laws
The Forest Country maintained a number of laws and ordinances that regulated activities throughout the kingdom. These included:
 * A commoner must bow their head to royalty, regardless of their sex.
 * A visitor must bow their head to the local lord.
 * An armed adventurer in peacetime must be peace-bonded. (Peace-bonding involved "peacestrings" tied about the hilts of weapons to prevent them being drawn in a hurry. In practice, this was symbolic, and little stopped a veteran fighter from pulling them when forced.)
 * All persons must submit to a search by militia when requested.
 * Foreign currency must be traded only at certain businesses that are permitted to do. (This was to prevent foreign coinage being introduced into the local economy and devaluing Cormyr's golden lion and others.)
 * The King's Decree of Rights Noble obligated commoners, to the cost of their lives, to aid nobles in times of need and danger.

Posted Laws
As of the Year of the Banner, 1368 DR, the following laws were posted at all major entry points into the realm of Cormyr:
 * 1) "All persons entering Cormyr must register with the officials of a border garrison."
 * 2) "Foreign currency can only be used in certain locations. Please exchange your coins for Cormyrean golden lions at your first opportunity."
 * 3) "Adventurers must acquire a charter before undertaking any operation as a group."
 * 4) "All weapons must be peace-bonded. The only persons exempt from this law are members of chartered adventuring groups and members of mercenary groups that can offer proof of employment."
 * 5) "Harming cats is forbidden."
 * 6) "Bow your head to royalty and the local nobility."
 * 7) "Purple Dragons have the right to search you upon request."
 * 8) "Hunting on private land is forbidden."

Rules of Succession
Only someone with Obarskyr blood may assume the crown. This meant that, for example, Queen Filfaeril Obarskyr could not assume the crown.

Additionally, the rules of succession were bound by ancient treaties between the Forest Kingdom, the elves who held the land that became Cormyr, and the dragons that ruled the land before the elves. The treaties were signed at the dawn of Cormyr by the first Obarskyrs. The law demanded that, no matter what, nobles of the realm could not be restored, resurrected, or otherwise returned to life, including the members of the royal family. No sitting regent or monarch could be returned to life. An exception could only be granted to nobles of the Obarskyr line who'd abdicated from the throne before their death and cut all claims to nobility (unless their faith forbade it). No person who died and was brought back could sit on the Dragon Throne nor take it by conquest. Cormyrean teachings claimed that if this law was ever broken, then the Dragon Throne would shattered and the dragons return to hunt humans.

Laws Regarding Magic
It was explicitly illegal for an individual to receive payment, in the form of money or valuables, to remove the effects of a spell they themself had cast.

Maritime Law
Cormyrian maritime law governed the activities of Cormyrian ships on the Sea of Fallen Stars. Captains of ships on which individuals had committed crimes usually imprisoned the individual in question in the ship's brig until making landfall in Cormyr, where local authorities dealt with the case.

Mutiny was usually a hanging offense, although there were a small number of cases in Cormyr where mutineers were spared.

Piracy was dealt with harshly. Upon the first offense, the pirate had one hand cut off. Upon a subsequent offense, the pirate was put to death.

Fishermen were required to pay local authorities for the right to fish in Cormyrian waters.

Law Enforcement
Depending on the law, some were enforced more thoroughly or more seriously than others. Towns could also vary in how they responded to lawbreakers; some would take fines, while others would banish them.

Local authorities such as city lords and town mayors could appoint magistrates to investigate and pass judgement on disputes and crimes such as murder when required. Magistrates were accorded various rights to let them go wherever they wished and question whomever they needed. Lord magistrates could even command Purple Dragons garrisons, such as Lord Magistrate Sthavar of Suzail, leader of the capital's government.

Cormyrean justice required a formal arrest and trial, but the monarch and the Royal Magician could order these circumvented in case of a threat to the realm, and even order an immediate execution instead. Moreover, they could pass the authority for this to a trusted agent.

Executions were typically done by means of hanging.

History
Lukas Spoondrift, innkeeper of the Sheaf of Wheat in Ghars, and Rolf (roofer), a local roofer, got into a dispute over a damaged roof and payment for repairs in around Ches of the. Lukas and Rolf's father took the matter to a magistrate in Wheloon, and argued about it through the rest of the year.

When Dovo, a blacksmith's assistant of Ghars, was found murdered on Eleint 17, the, Mayor Tobald appointed retired War Wizard Benelaius, current War Wizard Lindavar, and Benelaius's servant Jasper as honorary magistrates of Ghars, with all associated rights. The next evening, following the dead of king's envoy Grodoveth, Royal Magician Vangerdahast gave Benelaius the authority to rule on the matter and moreover for Captain Flim of the Purple Dragons to immediately execute the killer once identified.