The Adeptus Arbites in the Prosperitas Sector

The Adeptus Arbites are the Imperial law enforcement and judiciary. Oath-sworn to uphold Imperial Law above all else, they pursue, judge and summarily prosecute the most serious criminals, answering to neither Planetary Governor nor noble House in their pursuit of the Emperor’s Justice.

Five Things To Know About the Adeptus Arbites

They are the force of Law in the Imperium of Humanity. They enforce law and act as judge, jury and executioner; citizens of the Imperium have no rights before their powers.

They deal with major crimes. The vast majority of minor crimes, including most murders, are dealt with by local planetary Enforcers. The Arbites concern themselves with serious breakdowns in order and breaches of Imperial law where the local security forces have proved ineffective.

They are not military. Although they have a hierarchical rank structure and often use similar equipment to the Imperial Guard, they do not fall under Crusade command. Any Arbiter is expected to be capable of acting alone and without the support of their hierarchy.

They enforce Imperial law. The Arbites enforce the Lex Imperialis, which overrules all planetary and Sector laws.

They oversee Governors and nobles. Rank and temporal power are no bar to the duties of an Arbiter. The Adeptus Arbites can arrest a Planetary Governor who fails to pay their Imperial Tithe or a noble of a major House accused of a serious crime.

For a more general overview you can go here for further details on Imperial law and order.

The Adeptus Arbites in the Prosperitas Sector

The first Adeptus Arbites arrived with Durovera’s Crusade, establishing the Sector’s grand Hall of Judgement in the newly-named capital Duroverum. By ancient tradition, the High Chief Justice of the Sector has their Fortress-Precinct overlooking the Governor’s Palace – a symbolic overwatch, as the centuries of growth have seen outcroppings of the Hive sprout and shift until the original architecture is barely recognisable, but an important symbol: it is the iron-willed and carapace-armoured Arbitrators who watch the watchers.

Faced with dozens of worlds which provide fertile soil for crime, recidivism and heresy to take root, it is an open secret that the Adeptus Arbites of the Sector are stretched beyond their capabilities. Forced to turn a blind eye to increasingly major and organised criminal enterprises, and continually raising the threshold for “local law enforcement business”, the last four High Chief Justices have reportedly petitioned Terra for additional reinforcement – with minimal results.

Despite highly publicised successes in defeating a series of criminal gangs on Hive-Worlds across the sector in the last two decades, the whispers at the highest levels are that the Arbites are failing at one of their most vital duties – cutting out the rot of rebellion and recidivism before it spreads and becomes a problem for the Inquisition or the Crusade itself.

At the Trooper level, morale seems high; the Adeptus are well-led, well-funded when compared to their planetary Enforcer counterparts, and have favour from the highest levels of the Noble Houses – nobody wants to be in a Marshal’s bad books. The upper echelons, however, eye the wild corners of Subsectors Secundus and Tertius with a nervous gaze, painfully aware how thinly their precinct-houses are spread and how few their forces are for the task that faces them.

Abridged versions, codices and exegetical manuscripts of the Lex are used throughout the Imperium in Arbites precinct-fortresses, to provide the Adepti Arbites with a basis for their righteous judgements. The most complex cases, however, must be referred back to the Book of Judgement on Holy Terra, and may be centuries in the adjudication – often coming to a conclusion years after the original victims and perpetrators of the alleged crime are long dead.

Arbites often carry a field summary of the Lex known as the Book of Law – often, incorrectly, referred to as the Lex. An oath on such a book is considered by most in the Imperium as binding and sacred as an oath upon a religious text or the Name of the Emperor.

In cases where local planetary or feudal law and the Lex might seem to contradict each other, the Lex – as interpreted in the unquestionable judgement of a sworn Arbiter – always has primacy. Cases which highlight local law diverging too far from the Lex Imperailis are often considered a warning sign that the planetary government is straying dangerously from Imperial norms, and may even call for an investigation into the Governor themself by the Arbites; no Imperial subject is above the Law.

Rank and Status in the Adeptus Arbites

Any Adeptus Arbites can correctly be addressed as “Arbiter” or “Arbitrator”. Exact designations of rank and status within the Adeptus can vary from Precinct-Fortress to Precinct-Fortress, and it is not uncommon for a particular rank or title to be awarded for the duration of a criminal investigation, to represent the greater autonomy granted to the lead investigative officer. The titles below are the most commonly understood by the Arbites of the Prosperitas Sector.

Even the lowest Arbitrator Minoris is granted an unimaginable level of autonomy by comparison to the ranks of planetary Enforcers, who must answer to byzantine and often corrupt local justice systems. Any Arbiter who wears the badge is entitled by office to carry out summary justice, including execution, upon any wrongdoers they judge guilty of breaching the Lex. Only in the most complex, difficult or politically sensitive cases will an alleged criminal be brought back to the Precinct-Fortress for further investigation and trial before a more senior Arbitrator – whose word will be final.

Arbitrator Minoris: The lowest rank of Arbiter, one who has successfully completed their training and is considered capable of enacting the judgement of the Lex on wrongdoers.

Arbitrator Majoris: An Arbiter entrusted with command, often found in command of a riot control squad or leading an investigation.

Arbitrator Senioris: A senior Arbiter who can be trusted to act alone on sensitive or dangerous cases, or coordinate several squads of Arbiters to deal with major civil unrest.

Marshal: A Planetary Overprecinct is headed by the planet’s Marshal, responsible for overseeing law and commanding the Arbitrators of the Planet’s Fortress-Precincts. They are assisted by at least one, and often several, Deputy-Marshals. More populous planets will be divided into several regional precincts.

Nomad Marshals: Also called “Frontier” or “Hunter” Marshals, these Marshals have no fixed Precinct and report directly to the High-Marshal Subsector. They are responsible for bringing the Law to wild frontier worlds with no formal Precinct and the distant reaches of the Sector, hunting down fleeing criminals who cross Overprecinct boundaries and overseeing complex investigations into criminal conspiracies spanning several planets.

High-Marshal: Usually addressed as Lord-, Lady- or High-Marshal, are responsible for overseeing Overprecincts containing multiple worlds. Usually these positions of High Status are retirement positions, where venerable and politically powerful Arbitrators can be kept busy with the workings of politics and logistics rather than maintaining an active presence on a planet.