The Book of

Judgement of The
Adeptus Arbites

Enscribed and Holocoded into the Hall of Judgement

The Adeptus Arbites, the feared militant police of the Imperium, are the keepers of the great Book of
Judgement, the legal code of the Imperium, painstakingly collated over the centuries and embodying
every decree ever passed by the High Lords of Terra. As the millennia pass the Book of Judgement
grows ever heavier. Indeed it has long since grown beyond the confines of a single literal volume. Its
most ancient decrees are writ upon parchments of human skin, enscribed in unknown tongues by the
nameless functionaries of a forgotten age.

Every day a hundred new volumes of encoded holoscript are added to its number. Volume upon
leather-bound volume sits upon rows of iron shelves that fill the walls of the Hall of Judgement. Every
row is home to ten thousand tomes. Shelves are stacked a hundred metres above the time-worn floor of
antique marble. Upon narrow gantries and ladders crawl the tiny ant-like figures of legal assistants as
they search amidst the debris of judgement.

The Hall of Judgement is the holy sanctum of the Judges, the agents of a law that is absolute and
unforgiving. In the Imperium law and government are indistinguishable. Rebellion and failure are
crimes, and any transgression of the Imperial will meets with swift and uncompromising retribution.
Of the personal misdemeanours of the citizens of a million worlds the Judges care nothing. Such
matters are for the Lords of individual worlds to deal with as they wish. The Judges concern
themselves with more weighty issues. It is their task to bring the rebellious to trial, to hunt down
enemies of the Imperium, to destroy those who threaten its safety from within. To the eternal sorrow of
mankind its servants stray all too often from their appointed path. Officials of the Adeptus weave plots
of their own, driven by their lust for power, for wealth, or for forbidden knowledge. Many who occupy
positions of authority, even the High Lords themselves, may be tempted and can fall into the arms of
corruption.

The Judges command their own forces of retribution, massive armies spread throughout the galaxy and
ever vigilant to answer the call for justice. The Judges can also call upon the full resources of the
Imperium, added their own strength to the immeasurable might of the Imperium's armies and fleets.
Often it is the Judges who find themselves fighting the first flames of rebellion, while mobile Space
Marine forces rush to support them. The very presence of the Arbitrators is the greatest deterrent to
treachery

There are, as you can imagine, innumerable crimes documented in the Book of Judgement and they are
simply too numerous to cover here. The following pages details just a few of the most common or
heretical ones. PC Arbitrators will want to read the following pages carefully so that they can interpret
Imperial law and lend retribution to all wrongdoers! On the other hand the adventurers will want to
know what they can and can't do!

The punishment of a crime depends on what it is. For example, in-league with a Chaos cult,
blasphemy, or harbouring a mutant, is far more serious than the murder of a civilian. Indeed, an
authority is more likely to recruit mad, psychopathic, serial killers into the Imperial Guard than to
incarcerate them in a prison! The Imperium recognises the need for talent to be recruited into its armies
and may overlook even the most barbaric crimes; human life is very precious to the Imperium and
every man and woman has his or her part to play in the destruction of humanity's enemies. Imperial
servants, these include anyone connected with an Adeptus organisation, that commit a crime will be
punished within their organisation. Arbites influence will only be slight in this case, i.e. a scribe will be
present so that the proceedings can be documented.
You will have to use common sense when applying Imperial Law as the civility of worlds throughout
the Imperium varies tremendously. For example, a hive world Arbitrator is likely to ignore a complaint
of assault against another citizen, whereas on a more ordered world an Arbitrator is more likely to
investigate.

PRISONS, PENAL PLATOONS & SLAVE GANGS

Even the most brutal crimes will be punished with servitude into a penal platoon. These platoons are
used for cannon fodder and the Imperium sees that even the scum of society has a role to play for the
glory of the Emperor. Prison is a place where the scumbags of society are held until their time has
come for servitude in a penal platoon. Just for this to hang over a prisoner's head is punishment
enough. However, some crimes, though few, do not have enlistment in a penal platoon as punishment
and instead the prisoner just sees out his sentence normally. Prisoners waiting for this enlistment could
wait from a matter of weeks to even years.

To be forced into a penal platoon is almost death in itself as these platoons consist of some of the most
psychopathic criminals in the Imperium. Life is hard and for some, the battlefield can't come quick
enough. But once on the battlefield they will be subjected to overwhelming firepower as the cannon
fodder they inevitably represent to their Imperial Colonels.

Slave Gangs consist of people who may be not killers or psychopaths but people who have committed
lesser crimes. The slave gangs are very important to the Imperium as they can be forced to build roads,
landing zones, and even buildings, in a short space of time. They can also be forced to mine, often in
terrible conditions. Nevertheless some slaves do survive their enforced servitude and can resume their
place in society.

SECTION I Homicide
Murder is very common throughout all the civilised settlements of Imperial worlds. Sometimes in the
overcrowded hive worlds and overpopulated civilised worlds, murders can go undetected, unsolved, or
not bothered with. Many are simply put on holoscript and filed in the Administratum and will probably
never be solved. This is not to say that the Adeptus Arbites never catches murderers, for they do, it's
just that with so many murders being committed it is virtually impossible to 'sort everyone out'.

Many murders are gang-related, since the bulk of humanity comes from hive worlds and people there
are almost always a member of a gang. The Adeptus Arbites cares little for a slain gangster as it is one
less they have to worry about. Solving murders of this kind are not at the top of their list as they are
more concerned with public security than dead riff-raff. However, the death of a noble/influential
person or an Imperial employee (i.e. an Arbitrator, Guardsman etc.) is another matter entirely.

Grade 1: The murder of an employee in the service of the Imperium. A noble or prominent
member of Imperial society.
Punishment - From life in a slave gang (metered out to those 'worthy of living'), reduction to servitor
(becoming a mindless bio-mechanic), conscription to penal platoon to the death penalty.
Grade 2: A serial murderer (notably of civilians). This varies from 2 dead civilians to half a
dozen, depending on how a planetary governor views his subjects.
Punishment - 10 years in a slave gang, enforced conscription into the Imperial Guard (if applicable to
the murderer), conscription into a penal platoon, or the death penalty.
Grade 3: Incidental or accidental murder (manslaughter) whilst in the act of committing other
crimes. Criminal or contributory negligence resulting in the death of a second party.
Punishment - Varies hugely. If a citizen causes accidental death to another citizen he may be given a
suspended sentence, a fine, or maybe even told "not to do it again". Conscription into a penal platoon
is also an option.

SECTION II Blasphemy
Blasphemy is a crime that goes back to the start of the Horus Heresy, some ten thousand years ago. It
is one of the most serious crimes to be convicted of and punishable by many brutal methods. To
blaspheme is to acknowledge one's allegiance to the Gods of Chaos and the Adeptus Arbites responds
quickly to reports of blasphemy. Once the perpetrators have been rounded up they are imprisoned until
officials of the Adeptus Ministorum arrive to interrogate them.

Blasphemy incorporates many crimes against humanity such as being a genetic deviant, harbouring a
mutant, or found in possession of a heretical symbol (of the Chaos Gods). Punishment inevitably ends
in death, this can be anything from instant death to crucifixion - slow and painful deaths are often
preferred.

Grade 1: Bearing the mark of Chaos.

Punishment - Death by burning or decapitation. Mutants that are found are slaughtered mercilessly or
are used for 'mine clearance'.
Grade 2: Possessing a symbol or any trappings of the Chaos Gods.
Punishment - Death by burning or decapitation.
Grade 3: Harbouring a mutant so as to conceal it away from the authorities.
Punishment - Death to life in a slave gang or life as a servitor.
Grade 4: Slurring the Emperor's Name as to insult or demean the Saviour of Mankind. This may
also be attributed to Adeptus organisations.
Punishment - Fifty lashes of the whip to be conducted in a public place. This may be increased to 100
to 200 lashes depending on the seriousness of the offence. Very minor cases will be punishable by a
public pelting, which involves anything that the public can get their hands on, stones, rotten food etc.
Alternatively the offender may be given an on the spot beating by the arresting Arbitrators (always
favoured).

SECTION III Public Order

Public disorder is a serious offence. Gang warfare is endemic on all hive worlds and disorder is
sometimes common when taxes need to be paid. People dislike being treated unfairly, giving away
their taxes and blood to the Imperium. Inevitably this can sometimes lead to riots. Freedom fighters
use any excuse to rise up against the government and try to rouse the population against their Imperial
masters. Resources are often in short supply so everything will be fought over leading to an inevitable
riot. When a riot does happen the riot squads of the Adeptus Arbites ruthlessly purge them armed with
power mauls and suppression shields.

Grade 1: Rabble rousing.

Punishment - Death or enforced conscription into a penal platoon.
Grade 2: Rioting.
Punishment - Offenders are often roundly beaten and given a night in the 'hospitable' cells of the
nearest Arbites Courthouse. Rioters that are rioting against their circumstances, housing, air, food,
receive this punishment. Rioters against the Imperial establishment are given 5 to 10 years in prison or
even forced into a penal platoon.
Grade 3: Unlawful assembly.
Punishment - An instant beating is punishment enough.
Grade 4: Disorderly conduct.
Punishment - An instant beating and/or a night in the cells.

SECTION IV Assault
Many assaults go unnoticed, not surprisingly in the Imperium, as there are more serious things going
on. However, the assault of an Arbitrator or other Imperial servant is a serious offence. The GM might
like to rule that only assaults against Imperial servants (Arbitrators, Guardsmen etc.) will be punished.
On very civilised worlds the GM may impose any of the grades from 2 to 4.

Grade 1: Serious assault of an Imperial servant, noble, or similar prominent figure.

Punishment - Life in a slave gang to conscription into a penal platoon.
Grade 2: Serious assault of a civilian, or a number of civilians.
Punishment - 3 to 10 years in prison.
Grade 3: Common assault, including brawling and assaulting an Imperial servant.
Punishment - 1 to 5 years in prison.
Grade 4: Menacing with criminal intent. Threatening behaviour.
Punishment - 6 months to 4 years.

SECTION V Kidnap & Blackmail

Kidnap and blackmail is an every day occurrence for the wealthy and noble families of the Imperium.
They will be obvious targets for these sorts of crimes. The crime is a complicated one, as paying a
ransom demand is an offence. Some kidnapping cases have other motives than simple monetary gain,
including the coercion of people into committing illegal acts for the kidnappers in a perverse form of
blackmail.

But influential clans or gangs throughout the Imperium are not safe as rival factions seek to further
their gains through kidnapping and blackmail too, of each other.

Grade 1: Kidnap, including abduction by force, of an Imperial servant, noble, or prominent

figure.
Punishment - Conscription into a penal platoon, life in a slave gang, or life in prison.
Grade 2: Kidnap of a civilian in order to undermine Imperial authorities or to further one's own
circumstances.
Punishment - 20 to 30 years in a slave gang.
Grade 3: Coercion by force.
Punishment - 8 to 15 years in prison.
Grade 4: Incitement to Further Kidnapping, such as paying a ransom.
Punishment - 5 years in prison.

SECTION VI Burglary
Thieving is endemic in the Imperium, more than people care to realise as money and resources are
taken to keep the Imperium's vast war machine. Sometimes gangs of thieves will force their way onto
a premises and completely turn the place over and be gone in a flash. Other thieves will operate alone
and burgle a place, often a wealthy building, which might even belong to the Administratum.

Grade 1 - Burglary, including forced entry.

Punishment - 5 to 15 years in prison or conscription into a penal platoon.
Grade 2 - Trespass.
Punishment - 2 to 10 years in prison.
Grade 3 - Possession of Burglar's tools.
Punishment - 2 to 5 years in prison.

SECTION VII Robbery

The small Adeptus Administratum buildings are the target for organised robbers, who will readily use
violence to get their money. Larger admin buildings, though it is very rare, have also come under
attack from robbers in the past. On lesser developed worlds where the Administratum's arm only
reaches into the old-style banks, robbery can sometimes be rife. But by far the most common kind of
robbery is mugging where footpads lie in wait in dark alleys for the unwary victim.

Grade 1: Armed robbery with violence.

Punishment - 10 to 20 years in prison or enforced conscription into a penal platoon.
Grade 2: Armed robbery.
Punishment - 5 to 15 years in prison or enforced conscription into a penal platoon.
Grade 3: Mugging.
Punishment - 5 to 10 years in prison or in a slave gang.
Grade 4: Robbery or theft
Punishment - 5 to 10 years in prison.
Grade 5: Petty theft.
Punishment - A beating or a public pelting.

SECTION VIII Theft-Related Offences

The black-market is a blossoming business in the Imperium, especially in the sales of munitions either
Imperial or captured from the battlefield. The Imperium tries hard to clamp down on black-market
merchants and their associates but the problem is, is that some planetary governors, or even some
Imperial officials, are actually in league with these blackmarketeers. But handling stolen goods is a
very serious crime as the Imperium needs all the resources it can get without this illegal black
economy.

Grade 1: Passing, receiving and/or dealing and trading in stolen goods.

Punishment - 5 to 10 years in prison or the equivalent time in a slave gang.
Grade 2: Misuse of private property for storing illicit material.
Punishment - 5 to 10 years in prison. Depending on the world, this crime could incur the death penalty
or conscription into a slave gang or penal platoon.
Grade 3: Possession of stolen property.
Punishment - 1 to 5 years in prison.
Grade 4: Minor theft, fare dodging, illegal credit etc.
Punishment - A beating or a public pelting.

SECTION IX Forgery
Forgery is an ever-present annoyance. Cred-cards can be forged so can certain security parchments; the
former is easier than the latter to forge. Many worlds still use paper money and coins and forgers can
easily replicate them. Many a capable forger has made his millions on worlds such as these.

Grade 1: Forgery of Imperial parchments.

Punishment - 8 to 15 years in prison to conscription into a penal platoon.
Grade 2: Forgery
Punishment - 5 to 10 years in prison.
Grade 3: Possession of forging equipment
Punishment - 5 to 12 years in prison.
Grade 4: Possession of forged items.
Punishment - 2 to 8 years in prison.

SECTION X Arson
Arson is an incredibly serious offence seeing as much of humanity inhabits overcrowded worlds. To
start a fire in a hive spire would see the deaths of hundreds, even thousands of people. Arsonists have a
number of motives, either to wipe out their enemies, or to fulfill some perverse desire.

Grade 1: Intent of or actual destruction of an Imperial building through arson.

Punishment - Death or conscription into a penal platoon.
Grade 2: Arson.
Punishment - Life in a slave gang or conscription into a penal platoon.
Grade 3: Endangerment or criminal negligence, resulting in fire.
Punishment - 5 to 10 years in prison.

SECTION XI Heresy
The most terrible war to rage in the Imperium was the Horus Heresy, a war that almost saw the end of
humanity. To this end, heresy is just as serious as being a mutant or Chaos cultist.

Treason must also be stamped out. To turn one's back on humanity can also be construed as heresy and
all heretics must be purged according to the Inquisition and the Codex Imperialis. Many of the below
punishments will be metered out by the Adeptus Arbites Death squads where they usually kill anyone
suspected of heresy.

Grade 1: Heresy.
Punishment - Death through decapitation or burning.
Grade 2: Treason.
Punishment - Death through decapitation or firing squad, or enforced conscription into a penal platoon.

Grade 3: Attempting to gain classified information for treasonable purposes.

Punishment - Death or enforced conscription into a penal platoon.

SECTION XII Criminal Damage

Acts of vandalism is quite common as gangs of thugs take to the wanton destruction of anything they
come across. Vandals will also scribble their names or slogans on walls and defacing an Adeptus
building is a serious offence.

Grade 1: Vandalism of Imperial property (includes cogitators and servitors).

Punishment - 5 to 10 years in a slave gang.
Grade 2: Defacing an Adeptus building.
Punishment - 3 to 8 years in prison or equivalent time in a slave gang.
Grade 3: Criminal damage.
Punishment - 2 to 5 years in a slave gang.
Grade 4: Scrawling.
Punishment - A beating or a public pelting.

SECTION XIII Controlled Substances

The use of controlled substances varies tremendously throughout the Imperium, where a substance is
legal on one planet it might be illegal on another. This is where merchants seek to exploit these
circumstances and sell cargo illegally through the black-market. Spook, the drug that stimulates the
psychic centres of the brain, is made on many hive worlds and is highly illegal, despite the fact that
some nobles make great use of it.

Grade 1: Manufacturing or smuggling proscribed item.

Punishment - Conscription into a penal platoon.
Grade 2: Trading in proscribed item.
Punishment - 5 to 15 years in a slave gang or conscription into a penal platoon.
Grade 3: Possession of proscribed item.
Punishment - 6 months to 10 years in a slave gang or conscription into a penal platoon.

SECTION XIV Heretical Activities

Cults are seen as treasonous in the Imperium and are ruthlessly stamped out as a result. Not only does
this section apply to cults but to anyone caught performing an illegal experiment, such as robotic
experimentation. Robots have been outlawed in the Imperium since before the Horus Heresy when the
Iron Men rebelled against their human masters. Today, a select few will attempt to experiment with the
possibility of constructing one. As ever, the Arbites Death squads will typically administer the
punishment to anyone contravening this section.

Grade 1: Partaking of heinous rituals to the Chaos Gods.

Punishment - Death by burning or stoning.
Grade 2: Robot experimentation, the actual construction of an Iron Man.
Punishment - Death by burning.
Grade 3: In possession of documentation that could result in the construction of a robot or in
possession of documents which detail the Gods of Chaos.
Punishment - Death by burning.
Grade 4: Failure to report an illegal psyker to the Imperium.
Punishment - 5 to 10 years in a slave gang. (On some worlds this is punishable by death by stoning).

SECTION XV Perverting The Course Of Imperial Justice

Being found to destroy evidence in an important case, or hiring an assassin to kill a witness so as to
pervert the course of justice is a very serious offence. Lying to an Arbitrator when questioned is also an
offence in itself. Similarly bribing an Arbitrator often results in a beating, depending on the moral
statue of the Arbitrator in question.

Grade 1: Perverting the Course of Imperial Justice.

Punishment - 10 years to life in a slave gang or conscription into a penal platoon.
Grade 2: Bribery of an Arbitrator.
Punishment - 3 to 10 years in a slave gang or prison. Arbitrator has the right to administer his own
punishment.
Grade 3: Bribery of a civilian.
Punishment - 2 to 5 years in prison or in a slave gang. As ever this depends on the circumstances.
Bribery of a civilian so as to gain access to restricted areas would warrant this punishment.
Grade 4: Perjury.
Punishment - 1 to 5 years in prison.

MISCELLANEOUS OFFENCES
There are numerous offences, far too numerous to write on these pages. Here is a list of other offences.

Resisting Arrest
Punishment - A beating in the courtyard of the nearest Courthouse.
Obstructing an Arbites officer in the course of his duty
Punishment - 6 months to 2 years in prison.
Threatening Language or cheeking an Arbites officer
Punishment - A beating in the courtyard of the nearest Courthouse.
Impersonating an Imperial servant with intention to commit a crime
Punishment - Conscription into a penal platoon.