CHAPTER V: THE SOVEREIGN LAW OF ARMED CONFLICT (WAR CRIMES) The Scratch Magistrate holds its military to an elite standard of historical and constitutional honor. We do not sink to the methods of our adversaries. The following acts are strictly defined as War Crimes and are subject to immediate prosecution. ============================= WAR CRIMES INDEX ============================= [501] PERFIDY (DECEIT) [502] WANTON PROPERTY DEFILEMENT [503] COLLECTIVE REPRISALS [504] SYSTEMIC BLACKMAIL [505] THE DENIAL OF QUARTER ============================= Article 501: Perfidy (Treacherous Deception) It is a grave violation of honor to feign peace or neutrality to invite the trust of an opponent, only to betray that trust for military advantage. Under this article, it is strictly forbidden to: Fake a surrender or peace treaty to bypass an enemy's defenses. Infiltrate an external group under the guise of an ally or a neutral helper while executing a covert attack or gathering military intelligence without a declared, authorized espionage mission. Article 502: Wanton Property Defilement In the event of a conflict with an external group, military forces must strictly target the hostile combatants and their infrastructure. The targeted destruction, mass-reporting, or graffiti-spamming of a creator's portfolio, creative projects, or artistic archives—which have no military or defense value—is entirely forbidden. We fight forces, not creations. Article 503: Collective Reprisals No military unit or operative may target the associates, friends, or completely uninvolved studio members of an enemy combatant simply because they share an alliance or a studio with the offender. Punishment and military containment must be precisely focused on the individual actors who violated the peace. Article 504: Systemic Blackmail and Extortion Using administrative power, threat of raids, or mass-reporting to extort assets, apologies, or concessions from other users or groups is classified as systemic blackmail. The military's power shall only be used to enforce justice and security, never to extract tribute. Article 505: The Denial of Quarter If an adversary formally surrenders, ceases hostile actions, or retreats entirely from the Magistrate’s territory, it is forbidden to continue hunting them down or seeking their complete destruction. Surrendering forces must be processed humanely and treated as Prisoners of War (POWs) under administrative detention until a formal peace treaty is executed.
