Back in the 90s, I was a software developer for a company that put together digital legal research systems, back when things were still on CD. We were approached by a representative of Ghana to digitize and build a system containing their limited caselaw. As we scanned and OCRed their books, and started putting the system together, I would read bits and pieces of cases. It was shocking to see cases that had to do with magic and curses being heard in the 1950s. And these weren't crazy people being prosecuted. The judges hearing these cases gave legal weight to claims of people putting curses on others.
Edit: I got to reminiscing about this period of my life and thought I'd add a bit more. As we were getting ready to finalize the system and press a whole lot of CDs, the plug got pulled on the whole thing. I had even gotten my yellow fever shots as prep for a trip there to demo the system. Then the 2000 election saw the Rawlings government ousted, and the new government started accusing the prior government of corruption. The guy who approached us to build system disappeared, hiding from the Ghanaian authorities. It's a shame, really. Consistent application of law is part of a stable society, and this would have been a big step forward in the accessibility of caselaw, for a country which had never had them available in a searchable archive before.
Just another reason why some people can't pull themselves up.
In Iceland, the claim of elves has an actual legal investigation system.
I laugh, but then I realized my hometown in Germany probably has ways to deal with various demons and monsters in a legal way. Also, evidence based systems came from witch trials in Spain. It spread throughout the countries. King James actually tried to explain it while King of Scotland.
Whether demons exist doesn't matter, it's a matter of dealing with the public and it's response to such an accusation. If you can prove it's not elves, then you can legally move forward with things and the people are satisfied.
Back in the 90s, I was a software developer for a company that put together digital legal research systems, back when things were still on CD. We were approached by a representative of Ghana to digitize and build a system containing their limited caselaw. As we scanned and OCRed their books, and started putting the system together, I would read bits and pieces of cases. It was shocking to see cases that had to do with magic and curses being heard in the 1950s. And these weren't crazy people being prosecuted. The judges hearing these cases gave legal weight to claims of people putting curses on others.
Edit: I got to reminiscing about this period of my life and thought I'd add a bit more. As we were getting ready to finalize the system and press a whole lot of CDs, the plug got pulled on the whole thing. I had even gotten my yellow fever shots as prep for a trip there to demo the system. Then the 2000 election saw the Rawlings government ousted, and the new government started accusing the prior government of corruption. The guy who approached us to build system disappeared, hiding from the Ghanaian authorities. It's a shame, really. Consistent application of law is part of a stable society, and this would have been a big step forward in the accessibility of caselaw, for a country which had never had them available in a searchable archive before.
Just another reason why some people can't pull themselves up.
In Iceland, the claim of elves has an actual legal investigation system.
I laugh, but then I realized my hometown in Germany probably has ways to deal with various demons and monsters in a legal way. Also, evidence based systems came from witch trials in Spain. It spread throughout the countries. King James actually tried to explain it while King of Scotland.
Whether demons exist doesn't matter, it's a matter of dealing with the public and it's response to such an accusation. If you can prove it's not elves, then you can legally move forward with things and the people are satisfied.