SCP-1552-JP-1 during a Court Battle Event.
Item #: SCP-1552-JP
Object Class: Keter
Special Containment Procedures: Two of the Foundation-owned surveillance satellites are assigned to SCP-1552-JP to detect the occurrence of Court Battle Events. Once SCP-1552-JP-1 manifests and initiates a Court Battle Event, the scene is to be immediately cordoned off and a reasonable cover story, such as "Filming a Movie" is to be applied. Any civilians who witness the event are to be administered Class C amnestics.
Among the judicial records generated by SCP-1552-JP, those deemed deficient, such as an imbalance in judgment when considering the interests of the parties, are to be erased and the trial is to be redone through regular judicial procedures. Otherwise, they are to be processed as regular trial records, provided that the Chief of the Foundation Judicial Department and the Supreme Court approve them. Attempts to attack SCP-1552-JP-1, including for experimental purposes, are not permitted.
Description: SCP-1552-JP is a collective designation for a humanoid anomaly randomly manifesting in Japan and associated phenomena. When an illegal act or rights violation is committed in Japan1, it can trigger the appearance of a humanoid designated as SCP-1552-JP-1, which then initiates a series of actions termed a "Court Battle Event." The most common manifestation of SCP-1552-JP-1 is to jump from a high place to the scene. Attempts to record the moment of its appearance by surveillance equipment have not been successful as the camera feed is anomalously replaced by footage of a "court battle" centering on SCP-1552-JP-1. SCP-1552-JP occurs at completely random intervals with no apparent pattern, ranging from two days to twelve years.
SCP-1552-JP-1 wears a British-style court dress and wig, and outwardly resembles a young European male, although video analysis has shown that the skeletal features of its head are consistent with those commonly associated with Asian ethnic groups. SCP-1552-JP-1 may also draw a saber-like object from its sheath upon manifestation, which video analysis has revealed to be unbladed; the purpose of this object is unknown, as it is sheathed whenever SCP-1552-JP-1 kills illegal actors. SCP-1552-JP-1 speaks in an aristocratic and overbearing tone and has a disdainful attitude toward illegal actors. Despite the aforementioned external characteristics, SCP-1552-JP-1 only "judges" based on Japanese laws and regulations.
Upon the manifestation of SCP-1552-JP-1, the actor, the affected person, and the parties involved in the illegal act / rights violation come under its influence and begin to behave according to a certain pattern. The actor begins to speak in a stereotypical "villainous" tone, and the affected person attempts to hide in the shadows while asking for help from SCP-1552-JP-1. The parties involved, if not at the scene, then appear by jumping to the scene from a high place, similar to SCP-1552-JP-1, and provide testimonies, primarily those that could serve as evidence of the illegal act, in a theatrical manner. It should be noted that this is the most basic pattern — there have been observed cases where both the actor and the affected person were killed by the "judgment" described below.
A Court Battle Event starts with SCP-1552-JP-1's opening statement, followed by a conversation reminiscent of a Japanese court proceeding; this culminates with SCP-1552-JP-1 beating the illegal actor to death with its bare hands in what it calls a "judgment," then reading the "sentence," and immediately afterward exploding the actor's corpse by an unknown means. The event concludes with SCP-1552-JP-1, the actor, the affected person, and the parties involved all disappearing from the scene. While the explosion does not destroy any surrounding objects, the smell of burning gunpowder is reported to be perceptible. Other individuals witnessing a Court Battle Event are unable to take any action to disrupt it, but have a mild "interest" in its nature, which results in a crowd of onlookers gathering at the scene. There appears to be no distance or range limitation in meeting the requirement to "witness" an event, as in one reported case where a Mobile Task Force agent failed to disrupt the event after seeing SCP-1552-JP-1 on his sighting device from a distance of 600 meters.
Immediately following the conclusion of a Court Battle Event and the subsequent disappearance of all subjects, all physical injuries and psychological effects caused during the event are restored to their previous state, and the affected person and the parties involved reappear in the vicinity of their respective places of living. At this point, the damages caused as a result of the illegal act have been compensated and the illegal actor is found incarcerated in prison if they were sentenced to imprisonment; if not, the actor reappears in their place of residence, as do the affected person and the parties involved. One notable exception is that actors sentenced to death by SCP-1552-JP-1 never reappear.
Upon reappearance, these individuals have no recollection of their experiences during the Court Battle Event and recognize that their current situation was established through normal court proceedings. Similarly, public records are instantly rewritten at the conclusion of the Court Battle Event, with trial transcripts consistent with the event appearing in the respective documents and the sentence being listed in the official casebooks. There are known cases in which Court Battle Events involving real estate have altered the contents of registries.
The generated trial records contain the names of judges, lawyers, prosecutors, and other legal professionals who allegedly attended each case. Despite claims by these individuals that they were indeed present at the trial, surveillance video and other evidence indicates that no such trial actually took place. It is hypothesized that their memories were altered upon the conclusion of Court Battle Events, although the process of this remains unclear to date.
Through analysis of trial records, it has been determined that the sentences imposed by SCP-1552-JP are based on past judicial precedents and various legal principles, and are considered generally reasonable by both practitioners and legal scholars in the Foundation Judicial Department. However, SCP-1552-JP has an overall tendency to favor the "victim" side in its decisions, which has resulted in several cases of unfairness in sentencing; in cooperation with the courts, these unfair judgments are to be re-examined by the Foundation Judicial Department and currently serving judges, with the record corrected accordingly. In all other cases, no attempt is to be made to correct them in light of the lack of substantial detriment and the costs involved.
Physical interference with SCP-1552-JP-1 has proven difficult, partially because sighting it during Court Battle Events inevitably makes sabotage impossible. On one occasion, an attempt was made to subdue SCP-1552-JP-1 with sleep-inducing gas by installing amnestics wide-area dispersal devices at the location where SCP-1552-JP-1 appeared, but failed as SCP-1552-JP-1 demonstrated resistance to the gas. Furthermore, SCP-1552-JP-1 convicted twenty-six Foundation personnel of injury, including the researchers responsible for devising the operation and the technicians who activated the dispersal devices, resulting in their temporary incarceration in prison. Due to the extremely high cost involved in their release, attempts to capture SCP-1552-JP-1 have been suspended.
Based on the ongoing review of trial records since shortly after the discovery of SCP-1552-JP, it is estimated that ███ Court Battle Events have occurred since April 5, 1975. This is far more than the number that the Foundation was able to confirm by satellites and other means (██), suggesting that Court Battle Events can occur even under conditions where there are no witnesses other than the participants, such as indoors in private residences. Considering these irregular conditions of occurrence and the risk that the anomaly's properties may undergo significant changes in the future to cause disruption of the legal order, its Object Class has been designated as Keter.
Addendum: The following is a partial excerpt from the video log of a Court Battle Event. Although this surveillance video was altered by SCP-1552-JP, it has been verified to accurately depict the actual sequence of the event and has been archived as part of the SCP-1552-JP related event documentation.