While the exact details have yet to be finalized or revealed I would look to the Developer Journals.

The crime happens and becomes a "thing" when someone is a witness this includes even the victim themselves. The courthouse is used to carry out the sentence not make the crime real.

Destroying it would make it more difficult to sentence criminals but I highly doubt even that would make crime a free-for-all. The point of the crime and punishment systems is to keep the population of deviant style players within the chosen quota by SBS. Building in a way to circumvent the system seems contrary to that goal.

I think when a crime is committed a bounty coin is issued, using that bounty coin you can hunt the person down and drag them to the courthouse for sentencing. Or something like that lol.

I believe it'll be something like SoulSpark as said, but remember there isn't just one courthouse in the game you'll have to destroy the few dozens there are in your kingdom if you don't want to be judged, sooooo I don't think it'll happen

what would be considered a crime? why not let the kings or law makers decide what is or isnt a crime? what if im hungry and i kill a fox but you cant hunt foxes for some reason. does that mean i should suffer spirit loss cuz i was starving to death? i dont think committing a crime should make the player suffer spirit loss at all. unless they get capture and killed. if killing another player makes you suffer spirit loss what makes the kings guards so special ? what if they killed an innocent person who was the result of someone committing crimes under his or her name? I think spirit loss should be implemented when a player gets killed or caputured and agrees to being sentenced to jail ( but not actually do the time ) suffers the spirit loss of the amount of time that wouldve been spent in a prison in elyrian years. so for example you kill someone you should suffer more spirit loss when caught not just for doing it but when caught and accept a contract of some sort that agrees you pled guilty and thus this is how much spirit loss you will suffer for being in prison. no actual prison time but just the depletion of spirit. and each crime should be according to how the law makers have set it. another example in america you get a fine for stealing but in Saudi Arabia you get your hand chopped off. It should be up to the king to decide how much spirit is drained. this could also lead to uprising / story telling moments as well.