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I'm not sure I fully understand where the role of the Adeptus Arbites begins and ends, given the decentralization of the Imperium and the free rein generally granted to planetary governors (so long as they pay the tithe and crack down on heresy). Some sources treat the arbitrators as a regular, militarized police force, cracking down on civil unrest with their shock mauls. In other cases (like Necromunda), wading through mobs of rioters is the task of enforcers, who are under the purview of planetary authorities.

I know, "it depends". My tentative theory is that day-to-day policing is performed by enforcers, while the Adeptus Arbites specifically protect Imperial buildings and personnel (similar to the US Diplomatic Security Service) and can claim jurisdiction over a case or situation that pertains to Imperial law, such as an uprising against an Imperial Guard conscription order. Does this sound about right?

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I think you have the general gist of it. The Adeptus Arbites enforce Imperial law, not local law. So for example if the Planetary Governor decides that his planet is leaving the Imperium the Adeptus Arbites have the right to stop him.

Just on your point about Enforcers: You are right about your point on Necromunda. However other planets may or may not have Enforcers, it's up to each planet to decide how its police force is structured and what it's called.

If the locals are upset that the price of bread is too high, that's the responsibility of the local authorities.

If the locals plan to string up the Governor because the price of bread is too high, the Arbites get involved.

It's important to remember that the Arbites don't answer to a Planetary Governor, though; they answer to the Imperium. If the Governor has been deliberately stockpiling food and the planet has become unstable due to their short-sightedness, then the Arbites are more likely to march into the Governor's residence and execute them for messing up the Tithe.

That's pretty much correct, or at least as far as I know.

The Arbites jurisdiction covers the Pax Imperialis, which has 2 main responsibilities:
1. Pay your Tithe (In Guardsmen, Psykers and whatever value the planet is considered to have)
2. Keep heresy and/or recidivism down.
After that, everything comes down to local enforcement and however the Governor wants to run things.

They wouldn't have any jurisdiction for low-level crime. For example, they probably wouldn't have any responsibility to deal with assaults, thefts or even murders*. However, if those murders suggested ritual cult activity, then it would. Similarly if a murder were politically-motivated and thus risked destabilizing the Governor, they may or may not intervene depending on which party was looking more loyal to the Imperium.
Guy snatches your stuff and runs off? That's a job for the Enforcers*.
Industrial production falls as a result of riots? That's a Tithe, send the Arbites in.

*Although I doubt this would actually stop them from beating criminal scum to a pulp anyway.

They’re definitely an oddity in terms of what they actually do.

They’re separate to the Planetary Government, and seem to mostly police the local law enforcement and laws.

If the local government tries to go rogue? It’s on the Arbites to sort it out. If there’s a rebellion against the Planetary Governor, they’re expected to sort that out, especially if the Governor is assassinated, as it’s on them to prevent a total collapse.

I suspect they’re also how The Imperium manages inter-system crime. Say someone is fleeing an Inquisitor, or is declared Heretic by the Ecclesiarchy and attempts to jump system. That sort of message, which one imagines would be very sensitive information, surely falls into their wheelhouse to help arrange sweeps and checks on arrivals.

They function like I see the FBI in tv.

They have federal (imperial) jurisdiction to deal with a range of matters that will affect the imperium and will step in at any time to take over something if they believe it's connected to something that is relevant to them.

They have the jurisdictional authority to take any criminal activity on, but will usually only do it if it aligns with their main objectives. trying to shut down a rebellion might require chasing small time gun runners up the chain until they find the boss who leads them to the rebel leader. Or corner drug peddlers allowing them to put pressure on the supplier that leads to another outcome.

They will be able to walk into an enforcer precinct and order them around to undertake work they need done. But like inquisitors, their power is only power if citizens actually abide by it so jurisdictional conflicts could happen if they start swinging the PAX around.


If they can tie a crime to their imperial remit, then it's fair game for them to be involved in any way they see fit.

Yep, think most are in agreement. The general modern understanding of the arbites is that they are "federal police". They don't enforce the planetary governors laws, you can commit murder or steal bread right in front of them and they have no obligation to act (and given the grimdark nature of setting might just say "not my problem" and let it happen). They enforce the Emperors laws - pay the tithe, quash heresy, maintain loyalty, etc.

Beyond that, their portrayal is inconsistent. The game makes it seem like they are a militarized police force as you indicated. Many of the books, however, would indicate that they are kinda rare-ish - there often might only be 1 arbites for an entire planet, sometimes just 2 or 3. In fact, I dont think I've read any novel where its mentioned that theres anything more than at most 2-3 arbites present on an entire world.

Depends on the world.

If you’re not at a nexus of stable, charted Warp Routes? Your continued stability is less essential than one that is, even if you’re an Industrial World.

But yeah. They have judicial oversight. It’s not enough that your planet is nice and peaceful. Your laws, with some wiggle room, must reflect the overarching laws of the Imperium. The old “hate and kill the Xenos, Witch and Traitor” and “ensure you meet your tithes on time, every time”.

Because, like the Ecclesiarchy? A certain variance of what your law or local take on The Imperial Cult actually says is allowed. Mostly in the name of overall efficiency of governance. And again, that can vary world to world depending on its level of development. Provided order is maintained in both spheres, that’s the main thing.

Which makes The Imperium such an interesting entity. It is oppressive, and it is heavy handed. But…it’s not as monolithic as we might initially think.

I think in few Cain novels they enforce Pax Imperialis and control local "<enter local law enforcers organization name>". And take control once situation go wrong. Also it's mentioned there very few of them, like 3-5 Arbites officers. Like you don't need too many cause there local forces.

 kabaakaba wrote:
I think in few Cain novels they enforce Pax Imperialis and control local "<enter local law enforcers organization name>". And take control once situation go wrong. Also it's mentioned there very few of them, like 3-5 Arbites officers. Like you don't need too many cause there local forces.

Some sources have them having spacefaring elements that both transit them around but can also reinforce and provide muscle when required.

E.g. in the first Battle Fleet Gothic novel they have the small detachment on a planet, but then rock up with a fully equipped cruiser later in the novel.

IIIRC in the Shia Calpurnia novels it also mentions some sort of HQ fortress where the hierarchy lives and they do training, internal affairs, etc. Presumably the fleet assets also operate from those, ready to be tasked out as needed and allowing the standing detachments on each world to be kept to the very small single arbitrator to one squad max we usually see.

I also imagine it is useful for someone like the inquisition to be able to arrive on the planet and take control of a local force that isn’t beholden to the local authorities like the PDF might be.

This is probably one of their planned purposes

I'm pretty sure they've said necromunda has an arbites fortress in the upper spire, basically facing the governor's palace. And of course they're filled with off world arbites to ensure neutrality.

But yeah, the fortress would be the first and easiest stop for an inquisitor to gather troops if they didn't bring any.

On that?

It is of course true that Arbites (proper ones!) are never assigned to their nominal home system, to better insulate and isolate them from local politics and that.

But surely, there’s only so long one, even brainwashed as they most assuredly are being products of the Schola Progenium, a given Arbite can spend on a planet before that valuable impartiality starts to be eroded?

I have to assume from that line of thinking precincts/jurisdictions are on some kind of rotation.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
On that?

It is of course true that Arbites (proper ones!) are never assigned to their nominal home system, to better insulate and isolate them from local politics and that.

But surely, there’s only so long one, even brainwashed as they most assuredly are being products of the Schola Progenium, a given Arbite can spend on a planet before that valuable impartiality starts to be eroded?

I have to assume from that line of thinking precincts/jurisdictions are on some kind of rotation.

Depends on how proud they are of their heritage I guess.

E.g. Shia Calpurnia was from a prestigious Ulthramar family, and from that background somewhat looked down on even the noble families on the planet on which she was assigned (who equally looked down on her as a foreign bureaucrat as they saw it)

They are there to ensure loyalty to terra and adherence to imperial non religious orthodoxy. I’m sure an element of looking down their nose at none Terran’s is helpful to their sense of authority.

Must be hard being a planetary governor. In one respect you can do what ever you like as long as you don’t break the millions of, probably contradictory, rules set down by the arbites, the church and the adeptus mechanicus.

mrFickle wrote:
Must be hard being a planetary governor. In one respect you can do what ever you like as long as you don’t break the millions of, probably contradictory, rules set down by the arbites, the church and the adeptus mechanicus.

True, but the level of enforcement likely varies depending on the planet's importance, purpose and location. A skillful planetary governor will have a broad idea of what he can get away with, especially if he does a good job serving the interests of other factions.

E.g., the governor of a sparsely populated agri-world (pop. 20 million) decides to stop cracking down on farmers who repair their own machinery, because the planet just doesn't have enough tech-priests to go around. This helps increase agricultural production to feed tens of billions on a neighboring hive world. The Ad Mech may denounce him as an enabler of tech-heresy, but I think they'll have a hard time getting other factions to mobilize against him.

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But the admech could respond by being slower in providing resources for other issues such as food storage. All of a sudden there’s a famine and the planet can’t make its next population tithe and now the arbites are interested.

But the people start to pray for the emperors salvation and the churches are over flowing, now the ecclesiastical authorities show up (with some food) and start telling you what to do because they have the support of the people.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I feel like there is a good mobile game in this

Governors have people for that. Yes, the governor has authority, but the governor also has a bureaucracy of advisers, aides, and assistants that will know the legalities and regulations that need to be navigated around.

My view is that the Arbites are there to enforce the Lex Imperialis - anything that affects the wider Imperium at an above-planetary level is their jurisdiction.

Murder? Enforcer problem
Murder of an Administratum official responsible for administering the Tithe? well now you're an Arbites problem
Because the Imperium is a holistic system where each world contributes to the whole, interrupting the tithe has an effect beyond just the planet itself, so anything that potentially messes with the Tithe becomes a Lex issue

Cults (whether Chaos, Genestealer or plain ol' Heretic) have a nasty habit of infiltrating local law enforcement and expanding beyond their homeworld, potentially disrupting Imperial control - Lex issue

Corrupt planetary governor abusing the planet's populace for personal gain? As long as the Tithe is still getting paid, that's fine by them.

They certainly have authority over local enforcers and can supervise/direct them when required (as much as the local enforcers cooperate, anyway) but most of what we would consider crimes on modern day earth would not warrant Arbitrator intervention

They’re definitely a reflection of the oddity of The Imperium.

For a Totalitarian State, it’s surprisingly hands-off. Provided the Tithe is met? The Administratum Doesn’t Care. Provided your localised variant of the Imperial Faith hits the core beats? It was almost certainly an adaptation made by the Ecclesiarchy in the first place, so they Don’t Care. Provided your techs are under the oversight of the Mechanicus Adepts assigned to your planet? The wider Mechanicus doesn’t care. Provided your PDF is of sufficient numbers? Nobody really cares.

And so the exact flavour and tint of oppression forced upon the populace will vary wildly, provided everything on your planet ticks over nicely.

Perhaps that might sound daft. But given the sheer scale of Imperium, its far flung nature and the sheer variety of societies that exist upon its constituent worlds? It may be the only way to run it. The central government/dictatorship focuses only on the Big Stuff, relying on human self interest to arrange the rest.

I always felt sorry for the Adeptus Arbites as there are a lot of organizations that get to Flash their "we don't have to obey the Imperial Law" badge at them.

With the Magisterium Lex Ultima as the ultimate "above the law" special ability held by the Custodes.

The central government is hands off, only because it knows the system means that the governors will be the grinding hand of despotism on their behalf. Whe this lets up a bit, the various wings of central government step in to make sure the grinding continues.

The central govt is hands off because centrally managing a state like the imperium is impossible and the amount of bureaucracy needed would be overwhelming, beyond even the degree of bureaucracy already present in the Imperium. Thats actually part of the whole satire of the imperium - its a massive overwhelming bureaucracy that is too big and top inefficient to govern.

Cults have been mentioned a few times but aren’t they usually to business of the ordo chaos?

In this scenario, or similar like genestealer cults, I’d expect that they arbites are usually canaries and when things get to real they call out for off world help and that when it gets picked up by the inquisition.

I think it might be cooler if each planet only had one arbite who was basically a space marine but not affiliated to a chapter or aware of his connection to a primarch. Going around as a lone gun of justice with a licence to kill.

As it is it’s hard to see what a garrison of arbites could achieve that couldn’t be achieved by a platoon of PDF or Guardsmen if they decided that any event was their business

mrFickle wrote:
Cults have been mentioned a few times but aren’t they usually to business of the ordo chaos?

In this scenario, or similar like genestealer cults, I’d expect that they arbites are usually canaries and when things get to real they call out for off world help and that when it gets picked up by the inquisition.

I think it might be cooler if each planet only had one arbite who was basically a space marine but not affiliated to a chapter or aware of his connection to a primarch. Going around as a lone gun of justice with a licence to kill.

As it is it’s hard to see what a garrison of arbites could achieve that couldn’t be achieved by a platoon of PDF or Guardsmen if they decided that any event was their business

The "They are everywhere," of the Ordo Hereticus is greatly exaggerated. The propaganda of eyes always watching helps keep regular citizens in line.

Fear is the Imperium's greatest power. Much like a famous governor once said (a long time ago) "Fear will keep them line."

 Lathe Biosas wrote:

mrFickle wrote:
Cults have been mentioned a few times but aren’t they usually to business of the ordo chaos?

In this scenario, or similar like genestealer cults, I’d expect that they arbites are usually canaries and when things get to real they call out for off world help and that when it gets picked up by the inquisition.

I think it might be cooler if each planet only had one arbite who was basically a space marine but not affiliated to a chapter or aware of his connection to a primarch. Going around as a lone gun of justice with a licence to kill.

As it is it’s hard to see what a garrison of arbites could achieve that couldn’t be achieved by a platoon of PDF or Guardsmen if they decided that any event was their business

The "They are everywhere," of the Ordo Hereticus is greatly exaggerated. The propaganda of eyes always watching helps keep regular citizens in line.

Fear is the Imperium's greatest power. Much like a famous governor once said (a long time ago) "Fear will keep them line."

Well you say that but it doesn’t because the imperium is constantly fighting against various forms of insurrection. It’s an empire that is dedicated to a war effort half of which is turned in on its self. Even if it’s not fighting a civil war it’s policing itself. Imagine if all those resources could be turned external

Cults aren't always just Chaos or Genestealer, anything that isn't explicitly sanctioned can be labeled as a cult.

Workers Union that promotes collective bargaining for fairer worker conditions? That's a subversive cult.
Church that worships the Emperor as a God of understanding and wisdom? Sorry kids, that's not sanctioned by the Imperial Creed you are also a cult. Oh what, it got sanctioned an hour ago? Carry on citizen your church is now sanctioned, ignore the three hundred dead among your congregation.

Agreed, the Arbites will have wide jurisdiction over sedition of all kinds. Inquisitors are needed for when it’s so deeply embedded, or successfully obscured, that it doesn’t show up in Arbites radar.

 Gert wrote:
Cults aren't always just Chaos or Genestealer, anything that isn't explicitly sanctioned can be labeled as a cult.

Workers Union that promotes collective bargaining for fairer worker conditions? That's a subversive cult.
Church that worships the Emperor as a God of understanding and wisdom? Sorry kids, that's not sanctioned by the Imperial Creed you are also a cult. Oh what, it got sanctioned an hour ago? Carry on citizen your church is now sanctioned, ignore the three hundred dead among your congregation.

Would arbites get involved in this? Rebelling workers would be for the planetary government to sort out. Arbites would want to know if yhe government was behind the revolt.

How many arbites would be on a planet? Not enough to put down a full blown rebellion surely? But enough to storm the palace and arrest a governor that wasn’t paying his tithe. Or take down a syndicate that’s skimming las guns of the shipments to the front lines

Anything that constitutes a direct threat to Imperial authority in an organised sense (i.e. not just some local yobs who spray paint walls) would be under the purview of the Arbites