| Leoten_Eddicus | Date: Monday, 09 December 13, 6:18 AM | Message # 1 |
 Private
Group: Users
Messages: 10
Status: Offline
| Dear Sirs,
For a Dossier I am presently writing for presentation to the Judicial Department please could you answer the following questions:
What do you believe is the constitutional status of the Jedi Order?
What are your powers?
What constraints do you have upon you?
More broadly, how would you describe the work of your order?
Do you believe your order provides value for money for the Galactic Republic?
Are there any changes you would propose be made either to your Order, the Republic or the relationship between your Order and the Republic that would improve relations and the peace of the Galaxy?
None of this will be published to the Galaxy, rather it will form part of a discrete dossier for the Chancellor.
Sincerely,
The Honorable Justice Leoten Eddicus
__________________________
Justice of the Galactic Republic Supreme Court
Rumoured to be mildly prejudiced in favour of aliens and supine to the Government.
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| Tobias_van_Zant | Date: Sunday, 19 January 14, 7:46 PM | Message # 2 |
 Sergeant
Group: Users
Messages: 21
Status: Offline
| Your Honor,
A backlog of Master Tching's correspondence, including your questionnaire, has been referred to me. I am embarrassed on his behalf at the length of time it's taken to respond to you. I must admit that my mastery is not of the law, but rather of the Force; nonetheless I'm happy to endeavor to answer your questions as best as I'm able, pertaining as they do to a field of expertise that is not my own.
For instance, your first questions about the constitutional status of the Jedi Order, the constitutional powers of the Order and the limits of those powers, is not a matter for me or the Jedi to decide, and neither do we advocate on such issues. The Jedi have faithfully served the values of the Republic for thousands of years, but never has the Order worked as closely with the Republic as it does today. This, as you know, is a fairly recent advent of the Ruusan Reformations. There were long periods of pre-Ruusan history in which the Jedi acted as little more than a voice of conscience for the Republic, involving ourselves forcefully in Republic affairs only in cases of dire necessity (the Pius Dea era comes to mind, as does the Republic's erstwhile conquest of the Tionese). Our relationship with the Republic today, as engineered by the Ruusan Reformations, is a much more stable and predictable one in which we've been asked by the people to assume a more direct role in the maintenance of the peace.
As for what that role is, I'm sure you know as well as I, Your Honor; we are nominal officers of the Judicial Forces, empowered to enforce the law on Republic worlds—usually in a support capacity for the Judicial Forces under extraordinary circumstances—but we act more typically as mediators in diplomatic disputes. This isn't a responsibility that the Order has sought; rather, it is what the Republic requires of us, and we are content to oblige.
But we do much more than this, in answer to your question about the work of the Order. The primary concern of the Jedi Order is the accumulation of wisdom. The fathomless amount of knowledge in the Jedi Archives helps us to provide useful perspectives to Republic decision-makers. We also employ the Force to intuit a deeper understanding of natural phenomena; for instance, our Agricultural Corps uses the power of the Force to promote the growth of crops on worlds that suffer from drought or other disasters, and our Exploration Corps uses the Force to discover new hyperspace routes. These are only a few of the many services that the Jedi Order is pleased to provide to the Republic and its people.
Therefore I answer an emphatic "Yes" to your question about whether the Order provides value for the Republic's money. Frugality and simplicity are important values for us—this is evident, for example, in the simple robes we wear. It is also evident in our accounting practices; indeed, the Council insists on a goal of financial self-sufficiency for all of its operations. Admittedly, this wouldn't be possible without the Jedi Order's tax-exempt status--a status that is extended to many religious orders, not only the Jedi.
With respect to your final question, let me first emphasize that I am an enthusiastic supporter of the Ruusan Reformations. That the nearly thousand years since the Battle of Ruusan have been years of peace is a testament to the success of the Ruusan era reforms. But in my recent meditations, a question has posed itself to me which the Ruusan Reformations did not answer; namely, does the Jedi Order need an internal system of justice for Jedi Knights that is independent of Republic courts? I needn't point out that instances of Jedi Knights breaking the law are few and far between, but such incidents have occurred in history—the Force, as with any source of power, is an amplifier of temptation. I fear that if a Jedi Knight should commit a crime in this day and age, he or she may not receive a fair hearing in certain localities (the Seswenna Sector's recent animosity for the Jedi Order comes to mind). Or alternatively, Republic courts could establish the temptations of the Force as an extenuating circumstance in certain Jedi-related criminal cases. Traditional sentences may not always be justified in such cases; more often than not, the Order is able to rehabilitate—the word we use is "redeem"—Jedi Knights who have gone astray.
I struggle with this question, however. I do not suggest that the Jedi Order is by any means "above the law." So on this subject I would defer your superior knowledge of the law. I hope that I've been of some help to you and I welcome any further questions you may have.
Tobias Van Zant
Jedi Master
Master of the Order
Chief Jedi Phenomenologist
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