 Civil Law |
 Gorean LawThese are relevant references from the Books where Gorean Law is mentioned. I make no pronouncements on these matters, but report them as I find them. Arrive at your own conclusions. I wish you well, Fogaban He lifted the weapon, wielding the heavy metal blade as though it were a straw. "First the swords" he said, "then government then law then justice." Tarnsman of Gor Book 1 Page 156 There is a saying on Gor that the laws of a city extend no further than its walls. Outlaw of Gor Book 2 Page 50 Nela had been a slave since the age of fourteen. To my surprise she was a native of Ar. She had lived alone with her father, who had gambled heavily on the races. He had died and to satisfy his debts, no others coming forth to resolve them, the daughter, as Gorean law commonly prescribes, became state property; she was then, following the law, put up for sale at public auction; the proceeds of her sale were used, again following the mandate of the law, to liquidate as equitably as possible the unsatisfied claims of creditors. Assassin of Gor Book 5 Page 164 The Slavers, incidentally, are of the Merchant Caste, though, in virtue of their merchandise and practices, their robes are different. Yet, if one of them were to seek Caste Sanctuary, he would surely seek it from Slavers, and not from common Merchants. Many Slavers think of themselves as an independent caste. Gorean law, however, does not so regard them. Assassin of Gor Book 5 Page 208 "That is true," I admitted. By Gorean law the companionship, to be binding, must, together, be annually renewed, pledged afresh with the wines of love. "And," said Telima, "both of you were once enslaved, and that, in itself, dissolves the companionship. Slaves cannot stand in companionship." "His hand on the hilt of his sword," said Mira, "and his other hand on the medallion of Ar, his daughter was disowned." I gasped, stunned. "Yes," laughed Verna, "according to the codes of the warriors and by the rites of the city of Ar, no longer is Talena kin or daughter of Marlenus of Ar." I lay, stunned. According to irreversible ceremonies, both of the warriors and of the city of Ar, Talena was no longer the daughter of Marlenus. In her shame she had been put outside his house. She was cut off. In law, and in the eyes of Goreans, Talena was now without family. No longer did she have kin. She belonged to Samos, of course. It had been within the context of his capture rights that she had, as a free woman, of her own free will, pronounced upon herself a formula of enslavement. Automatically then, in virtue of the context, she became his. The law is clear on this. The matter is more subtle when the woman is not within a context of capture rights. Here the matter differs from city to city. In some cities, a woman may not, with legal recognition, submit herself to a specific man as a slave, for in those cities that is interpreted as placing at least a temporary qualification on the condition of slavery which condition, once entered into, all cities agree, is absolute. In such cities, then, the woman makes herself a slave, unconditionally. It is then up to the man in question whether or not he will accept her as his slave. In this matter he will do as he pleases. In any event, she is by then a slave, and only that. In other cities, and in most cities, on the other hand, a free woman may, with legal tolerance, submit herself as a slave to a specific man. If he refuses her, she is then still free. If he accepts her, she is then, categorically, a slave, and he may do with her as he pleases, even selling her or giving her away, or slaying her, if he wishes. Here we might note a distinction between laws and codes. In the codes of the warriors, if a warrior accepts a woman as a slave, it is prescribed that, at least for a time, an amount of time up to his discretion, she be spared. If she should be the least bit displeasing, of course, or should prove recalcitrant in even a tiny way, she may be immediately disposed of. It should be noted that this does not place a legal obligation on the warrior. It has to do, rather, with the proprieties of the codes. If a woman not within a clear context of rights, such as capture rights, house rights, or camp rights, should pronounce herself slave, simpliciter, then she is subject to claim. These claims may be explicit, as in branding, binding and collaring, or as in the uttering of a claimancy formula, such as "I own you," "You are mine," or "You are my slave," or implicit, as in, for example, permitting the slave to feed from your hand or follow you. "I do not think then I should be held accountable under the charge of attempting to deceive with respect to caste," she said. "For example, I engaged in no business under false pretenses, and I never claimed explicitly to be of a caste other than my own." It seemed to me that she did have a point here. The legal problems connected with intent to deceive with respect to caste, of course, problems of the sort which presumably constitute the rationale of the law, usually come up in cases of fraud or impersonation, for example, with someone pretending to be of the Physicians. "And, too," she continued, "if conquering Cosians should have seen fit to take me for a simple, low-caste maid, I see no reason why the laws of Ar's station should now be exercised against me. What would be the point of that, to protect Cosians from a mistake which they never had the opportunity to make?" "You hoped by your mode of dress, and such," said Aemilianus, "to conceal that you were of a caste on which vengeances might be visited, and thus to improve your chances of survival." "Some fellows do not brand their slaves," I said. "That is stupid!" she said. "It is also contrary to the laws of most cities," I said, "and to merchant law, as well." "Of course," she said. Gorean, she approved heartily of the branding of slaves. Most female slaves on Gor, indeed, the vast majority, almost all, needless to say, are branded. Aside from questions of legality, compliance with the law, and such, I think it will be clear upon a moment's reflection that various practical considerations also commend slave branding to the attention of the owner, in particular, the identification of the article as property, this tending to secure it, protecting against its loss, facilitating its recovery, and so on. The main legal purpose of the brand, incidentally, is doubtless this identification of slaves. To be sure, most Goreans feel the brand also serves psychological and aesthetic purposes, for example, helping the girl to understand that she is now a slave and enhancing her beauty. "The principle here, I gather," said Marcus, "is that the Ubara is above the law." "The law in question is a serious one," said Tolnar. "It was promulgated by Marlenus, Ubar of Ubars." "Surely," said Venlisius to the netted woman, "you do not put yourself on a level with the great Marlenus." "It does not matter who is greater," she said. "I am Ubara!" "The Ubara is above the law?" asked Marcus, who had an interest in such things. "In a sense, yes," said Tolnar, "the sense in which she can change the law by decree." "But she is subject to the law unless she chooses to change it?" asked Marcus. "Precisely," said Tolnar. "And that is the point here." "Whatever law it is," cried the netted woman, "I change it! I herewith change it!" "How can you change it?" asked Tolnar. "I am Ubara!" she said. "You were Ubara," he said. She cried out in misery, in frustration, in the net. "Interesting," said Marcus. "Release me!" demanded the woman. "Do you think we are fond of she who was once Talena," asked Tolnar, "of she who betrayed Ar, and collaborated with her enemies?" "Release me, if you value your lives!" she cried. "Seremides will wish me free! So, too, will Myron! So, too, will Lurius of Jad!" "But we have taken an oath to uphold the laws of Ar," said Tolnar. "Free me!" she said. "You would have us compromise our honor?" asked Tolnar. "I order you to do so," she said. Tolnar smiled. "Why do you smile?" she asked. "How can a slave order a free person to do anything?" he asked. "A slave!" she cried. "How dare you!" "You are taken into bondage," said Tolnar, "under the couching laws of Marlenus of Ar. Any free woman who couches with, or prepares to couch with, a male slave, becomes herself a slave, and the property of the male slave's master." "I, property!" she cried. "Yes," said Tolnar. Absurd!" she said. "Not at all," he said. "It is, I assure you, all quite legal." The oddity, or anomaly, has to do in its way with law. The state, or a source of law, it seems, can decide whether one has a certain status or not, say, whether one is a citizen or not a citizen, licensed or not licensed, an outlaw or not an outlaw, and such. It can simply make these things come about, it seems, by pronouncing them, and then they are simply true, and that, then, is what the person is. It has nothing to do, absolutely nothing to do, with the person's awareness or consent, and yet it is true of the person, categorically and absolutely, in all the majesty of the law. It makes the person something, whether the person understands it, or knows it, or not. The person might be made something or other, you see, and be totally unaware of it. Yet that is what that person, then, would be. It is clear to her now that she must have been watched, and considered, and assessed, perhaps for months, utterly unbeknownst to her. She had no idea. She suspected nothing, absolutely nothing. But her status, her condition, had changed. It seems that decisions were made, and papers signed, and certified, all doubtless with impeccable legality. And then, by law, she, totally unaware, became something she had not been before, or not in explicit legality. And she continued to go about her business, knowing nothing of this, ignorantly, naively, all unsuspecting. But she had become something different from what she had been before. She was no longer the same, but was now different, very different. Her status, her condition, had undergone a remarkable transformation, one of which she was totally unaware. She did not know what, in the laws of another world, one capable of enforcing its decrees and sanctions, one within whose jurisdiction she lay, she had become. That she finds interesting, curious, frightening, in its way, an oddity, and anomalous. She did not know what she had become. She wonders if some of you, too, perhaps even one reading this manuscript, if there should be such, may have become already, too, even now, unbeknownst to yourself, what she had then become. Perhaps you are as ignorant of it as was she. But this reality was later made clear to her, by incontrovertible laws, and deeds, which did not so much confirm the hypothetical strictures of a perhaps hitherto rather speculative law, one extending to a distant world, as replace or supersede them, in an incontrovertible manner, with immediate, undeniable, unmistakable realities, realities not only independently legal, and fully sufficient in their own right, but realities acknowledged, recognized and celebrated, realities understood, and enforced, with all the power, unquestioned commitment and venerated tradition of an entire world, that on which she had found herself. "You think words are things," said Arashi, "but things are things, not words. The name of water does not assuage thirst nor the name of food fill a belly. So, too, the name of arrest does not arrest. A decree without the sword is no more than a sword without a blade. There is no law without the bow and glaive." I was reminded of a saying I had heard long ago. "The laws of Cos march with the spears of Cos." Slaves are denied veiling on Gor. In Gorean law, they are animals, and who would veil an animal? "She has shown no signs of mental imbalance or difficulty until the trial, even if now, and her actions in question well precede the trial. She was fully and indisputably in possession of her senses when she committed the crimes for which she is charged. Further, current insanity does not mitigate past guilt, nor should it, nor does it, in Gorean law, modify due punishment." In Gorean law the testimony of slaves is commonly taken under torture, the theory apparently being that this will encourage veracity. "My claim is valid," I said. "I own her." "She fell into hands other than yours frequently," said Decius Albus, "for example, those of Seremides of Ar, of Lurius of Jad, of Myron of Cos, of Ruffio of Ar, and doubtless those of many others." "That changes nothing," I said. "One man cannot free the slave of another. If she fled away and was apprehended by guardsmen, that does not make her the slave of guardsmen." "Beware, dear Geoffrey," said Hemartius. "Things are not so simple." "Perhaps, esteemed deputy counselor," said Decius Albus, "you might ask your colleague, the noble, learned Hemartius, to quote relevant statutes to you." "I refrain," said Hemartius. "Permit me, then, to be of service," said Decius Albus. "The matter is complex and varies from polis to polis, but, happily, it is also covered more generally in Merchant Law, which, as you know, is promulgated at, and revised at, the Sardar Fairs, particularly that of En'kara. For obvious reasons, given the limitations of pomeriums, Merchant Law is commonly, in many matters, accorded a theoretical preeminence. The slave laws tend to be quite similar to those pertaining to chattels in general. Consider some representative cases. An owner disappears or perishes without having made provisions for the disposition of his property. One then considers kin, and closeness of kin. Suppose a slave is a fugitive and her owner is not known or cannot be found. She is then subject to claim. Suppose a slave is lost or has been washed overboard. Then, again, assuming her owner is not known or cannot be found, she is subject to claim. Suppose a woman, of her own free will, has renounced her freedom, declaring herself a slave, perhaps to avoid an undesirable companionship, say, to make herself unworthy of, or ineligible for, companionship, or perhaps to escape a city, or a difficult personal situation, or a simple yearning for a master. She may then be claimed by any free person. A female thief may be given by the state to her victim. A female debtor may be given by the state to her creditor. An unclaimed slave may be auctioned. In some cases, time limits may be imposed, for example, a slave not claimed within twenty days may be sold, and so on. These things are independent, of course, of recognized exceptions, such as attacks, raids, and war. The slave, like the free woman, is loot and loot belongs to the looter. The laws of Ar do not prevail in Treve, nor do those of Treve prevail in Ar. Let masters look after their own slaves, as best they can, as they would their own tarsks, verr, or kaiila." "In short," I said, "laws are complex, tangled, and often obscure." "And Merchant Law, dealing with this area, is usually ineffective," said Hemartius, "lacking a means of enforcement and being overruled whenever found by cities or individuals distasteful or inconvenient." "Cities and men do much as they please," I said. "Not within a city, of course," said Hemartius. "Within a city, laws can be quite stringent." "Fortunately," said Decius Albus, "the matter here is quite simple and straightforward. Geoffrey of Harfax little or never exercised the imperium of the mastership over the woman in question, over his alleged property. Indeed, she was on the throne of Ar! Did she, I wonder, often ponder that beneath her regalia, beneath her ornate robes of office, there was the naked body of a slave? Then at last, our beloved Marlenus, after his long and tragic absence, returned to our beloved Ar. Ar rose! The invaders were cast out! Talena disappeared. During the time of her disappearance, in one collar after another, she belonged to many masters. The original mastery then, if it existed at all, was superseded and nullified many times over." Law on Gor. I would later learn, often reached no further than the compass of one's sword. "I am a slave, Master," she cried. "What have brands and collars to do with bondage? Bondage is of the heart. Mark me! Collar me! Put the certifications of law on me so that all may see me, despise me, and know me slave. Let legal niceties make public and visible what has hitherto been secret and concealed." "Do not think the law is keenly observant, objective, or impartial," said Rupert. "Those who make the law have ends in mind. Too, when the law proves inconvenient, it can be overlooked." "Surely not," I said. "Do not be naive," he said. "The law," I said, "is the same for all." "Scarcely," he said. "Are not all equal under the law?" I asked. "No," he said. "I hear that with dismay," I said. "Law is made to further the interests of the powerful, not that of the many, not those of the weak," he said. "Surely sometimes," I said, "law can confound and frustrate the powerful, and bring them to an accounting and ruin." "When used to advance the interests of elements even more powerful," he said. "Law is a weapon not unfamiliar to warring giants." "Giants?" I asked. "The blade of the law is heavy," he said. "Who but a giant can lift it?" |       
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