Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 898 - 898 487 He Should Step Down
Chapter 898: Chapter 487, He Should Step Down Chapter 898: Chapter 487, He Should Step Down Gu Hang was somewhat surprised by the arrival of Ou Juren.
From the previous banquet, Gu Hang could obviously tell that after arriving at the heart of the Empire, Galaraldo had stirred up quite a scene, forming or joining a powerful political faction; otherwise, his own rapid promotion would not have been possible.
However, now that he found out the leader of this faction was Ou Juren, it exceeded his initial estimates.
Being able to pull in a top official like Ou Juren was a real show of strength.
Through the Empire Government’s propaganda and policy setting, Gu Hang had come to understand that Ou Juren was an upright, impartial, and incorruptible person. And the position of Minister of Justice implied very high authority.
Among the four major institutions with direct access to the Terra Supreme Council High Collar Chairman Position, the main work of the Legal Department was to ensure the stability of public order on each planet within the boundless territories of the Empire and the compliance of the inhabited worlds, similar to the supreme police department.
The Legal Department would also act as a representative of the Terra Supreme Council to adjudicate conflicts between regional administrative officers and ensure their loyalty.
As the Minister of Justice, a High Lord with direct access to the Imperial Council seats, he was responsible for staying in the large courtroom of the Legal Department on Holy Terra, planning the overall law enforcement policy.
In fact, not all of the Empire’s law enforcers belong to the Legal Department. The relationship between the Legal Department and the local law enforcement agencies on each planet is more akin to a partnership, rather than a hierarchy. Only at the Star Domain and Cosmos Domain government levels would the Legal Department’s institutions and corresponding law enforcement agencies be directly arranged, and at the Star Sector level government, a liaison officer and office of the Legal Department would be set up.
If a case only involves violation of the laws on the local Planet, it will be handled by the local police—that is, under the jurisdiction of the Planetary Government, Planetary Governor. Only cases involving interstellar crimes or violations of Empire law would be reported to the Legal Department’s liaison officer in the local Star Sector. The liaison officer’s job is usually to oversee the local law enforcement department’s work, and in the event of serious cross-interstellar crimes, the liaison officer would first assess the situation and mobilize Star Domain or even higher level Legal Department forces to handle it.
Usually, the regional law enforcement departments of the Empire are also not keen on the involvement of the Legal Department in investigations, because this often means either they have messed up, or they have encountered major trouble. If it’s a mess-up, the Legal Department will also clean up the local police station in the process of dealing with the culprits; if it’s major trouble, it’s equally disastrous.
Even worse is that the Legal Department might take the case to the Tribunal, where the Judge often makes the enforcer take a step ahead of the criminal.
However, for places like Holy Terra and some other important planets of the Empire, the Legal Department would actually take full control of their law enforcement to ensure that the rulers of the planets within the jurisdiction abide by the Empire laws and supervise local enforcers to maintain order. If a Planet experiences riots, the Legal Department can declare martial law and deploy forces to control the situation until it subsides or the Imperial forces take over. The Legal Department has law enforcement power over most people of the Empire, except for the Interstellar Warrior, Judge, and Navigator families; they can pretty much arrest, interrogate, and execute anyone within their jurisdiction.
And at the core of all the Legal Department’s authorities are: Tax evasion and Heresy.
Other matters such as smuggling, organized crime, subversion, and treason are for local governments to handle.
Only these two are what the Legal Department cannot tolerate.
But these two matters have quite a bit to be discussed.
Tax evasion is easier, this is the ‘core business’ of the Legal Department, whether it’s executing Planet Governors who fail to meet tax standards, or taking violent actions to ensure tax results, it’s all under the Legal Department. They have their own violent institutions, the Legal Department’s elite policemen with laser guns, Bombardment Guns, Storm Shields, power weapons, and also have Riot Control Armored Vehicles, police tanks, police aircraft, and specially-made Justice Cruisers in space.
To be honest, in terms of armament, apart from having fewer numbers due to the specificity of their work and tasks, lacking artillery support, the armed police officers of the Legal Department are better at fighting than the average Star Realm Army, especially in small-scale conflicts.
Not to mention the local defense forces.
Moreover, the Legal Department’s work is generally not about fighting a war but is more inclined towards policing, suppression, and planet safety.
And if the police forces of the Legal Department can’t handle the situation, they can of course call for reinforcements, usually from the Star Realm Army, the Imperial Navy.
However, dealing with Heresy is a bit more awkward.
A Heresy crime is a classic “catch-all crime”; it can be pinned onto anyone in nearly any way. While only Heresy and tax evasion may seem to be treated seriously on the surface, in reality, Heresy can be applied almost everywhere—whether to arrest or not totally depends on the Legal Department’s mood.
It seems like such great power, but in reality, it’s not quite so.
As one of the most important tasks of the Legal Department, investigating heretical conduct is much more difficult than imagined. Not to mention the small matters they are too lazy to deal with, in the major issues that are genuinely worth the Legal Department’s intervention, a considerable proportion will have problems. The entire process of case investigation can easily shift from a suspenseful cop thriller to a horror film involving Chaos Cults, Green Skins, and various terrifying alien creatures.
