I was thinking about how law and order would work, trying to mix elements of superhero comics with D&D expectations and actual medieval law (which I was able to read about in Ian Mortimer's The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England).
A Catalyst of Mercy: Historical medieval law was harsh. Murderers and thieves were usually hanged, and the accused didn't have many of the rights we take for granted today. If you want to take bad guys alive so they can escape prison over and over, this has to change. Something in recent memory has altered society's opinion of capital punishment--an apocalyptic event or massive catastrophe has made people weary of violence and given new respect for life. Maybe one of those world-ending threats was barely contained by valiant heroes--Kyuss tried turning the world into a living dead nightmare or the Savage Tide nearly wiped out civilization. Pestilence wiped out a huge percentage of the population, or a savage horde swept across the lands. Whatever happened, people have seen enough senseless death and would rather lock a criminal away than take their life in public spectacle.
No Police: There are no professional guards or police. Towns have a volunteer force of responsible, able-bodied adults who keep an eye out for the community and report any wrong doing. In a city, each neighborhood has its own group. If a crime is uncovered, they are duty bound to report it to a Justicar, on pain of fines. If the criminal can be caught without much risk they will be held until an Justicar arrives.
Jails: Space is kept to hold suspected criminals. In a "barely survived the end of the world" scenario chances are there are enough abandoned buildings to accommodate this, but if jails overflow some will have to be released. You can also be release from jail if you pay your fine (or bribe someone who runs the jail).
Justicars: Royal officials, trained in the common and royal laws of the land, travel from town to town (a city would have several resident Justicars). They act as judges and can pass sentences in the form of fines or jail time. Small crimes and disputes are handled by competing testimony, serious offenses will require a jury of locals to convict. Important lords can only be tried by a jury of Justicars.
Grounds for Arrest: You can be held for a crime if you are caught in the act or caught in possession of direct evidence (like stolen goods). In small towns where everyone knows each other, you can be arrested on circumstantial evidence like not having an alibi, especially if you're a stranger in those parts.
Corruption: The system gets abused in numerous ways, because how else to those villains keep escaping? Much of the process is based on the honor system, your reputation among the locals, or the opinion of one Justicar. One immoral link in this chain can put an innocent in jail or set a criminal free. Bribes are common, whether to get out of jail, get charges dropped, or buy a jury. Strangers or those with bad reputations can easily be accused of anything. Juries can be intimidated into releasing a dangerous criminal without even needing to be bribed. If war is common criminals may be pardoned if they fight for the government, free to return to their evil ways afterwards.
Sanctuary: One custom (not a law) is that a criminal cannot be imprisoned if they seek refuge in a church. They must relinquish any stolen goods and show repentance. After a month of atonement, they will be exiled instead of jailed. In a world of many nations, this means they can move on to torment a neighboring realm.
What Looks Different to Us: Laws change from place to place, accusations can be made by anybody in town, and your fate may be decided by one corrupt Justicar. There are no police, only volunteer concerned citizens and traveling judges. There is no due process, and bribes are incredibly common.
What This Means for Superheroes: The world needs heroes to fight villainy. Criminals can be roughed up and dumped in front of a jail for a Justicar to sort out. Villains will go to jail and get out, whether from failed trials, bribing jailers, or interference from the rich and powerful. Heroes may want secret identities to protect their families from villains, and to avoid accusations from corrupt Justicars and lords.
I'll continue this series as ideas come to me.
