Rule of Criminal Procedure 8

See Stormwind Rules of Criminal Procedure.

A. Continuing Jurisdiction.
Except as provided in this rule, all pretrial motions shall be heard by, and the case shall be presided over and tried by the magistrate before whom the initial appearance was made.

B. Disqualification.
1. A magistrate shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.

2. He shall also disqualify himself in the following circumstances: 3. A magistrate shall disqualify himself under the following conditions if the defense or prosecution request it: 4. A magistrate may disqualify himself if he is related to a party to the proceeding more distantly than four degrees (second cousin or farther).
 * a. He is a party to the proceeding, or has substantial personal knowledge of the matter before the court;
 * b. He is related within four degrees (first cousin or nearer) to a party to the proceeding, by blood or by marriage;
 * c. He and one of the parties to the proceeding are members of the same order, military unit, or tradesman’s organization; or
 * d. He has previously served as counsel in the matter before the court, to either party.
 * a. He has significant investment in a business venture with a party to the proceeding, in excess of ten-thousand gold or ownership greater than 40%;
 * b. He is an employer of a party to the proceeding;
 * c. He is an employee of a party to the proceeding; or

C. Magistrate's Disability.
In the case of a magistrate disqualifying himself or being removed from the proceeding, any magistrate regularly sitting in or assigned to the court may complete the trial if:
 * 1) the magistrate completing the trial certifies familiarity with the trial record; and
 * 2) the magistrate is not required to disqualify himself by the provisions of Rule 8(B).

Commentary
Disqualification--also known as "DQ"--is the means by which you ensure yourself an impartial judge. Most of these rules will probably never come into play, as both parties will have to agree to allow any magistrate to preside, but the rule puts reasonable restrictions in place on an IC level.

If you find out after the fact that the magistrate with whom we've connected you may be unable to handle the case fairly--or at least, to your needs and satisfaction--please let them and us know, and we'll try to find another.

On an OOC level, we expect our magistrates to play by the rules. IC magistrate corruption is only to be permitted with open and express OOC consent, and the magistrate will accept IC consequences if it is discovered. This consent is to be delivered by private message to Jeremaias in a Discord conversation with all parties in attendance.