Count of Barrayar

Count is a title and position in the government of Barrayar.

The North Continent of Barrayar is divided into sixty Districts, one for each of sixty Counts. Each count governs and taxes his District, and all counts were members of the Vor caste.

A Count could choose his own heir, "Count's choice before Count's blood", however the default was the first son of the Count.

The Counts meet in the Council of Counts of Barrayar in Vorhartung Castle to pass legislation, confirm heirs, and conduct other business of state. Along with the Council of Little People and the Emperor, they form the legislature of the Barrayaran Imperium. The Emperor of Barrayar is a count in his own right and has a vote in the Council.

Counts, as Vor lords, could not be tried in standard courts on Barrayar, only tried by their peers in the Council of Counts. However, they faced tighter rules in their everyday lives. For instance, the charge of mutiny in the military became treason when applied to a Count or his heirs.

Each Count generally had two official residences, one in the capital in Vorbarr Sultana, and another in his district.

Origins

The origin of the title was from accountant, as the counts were originally Imperial tax collectors, called " 'counts". Over time they gained control over large swathes of territory and recruited private armies. During the reign of Emperor Dorca the Just Vorbarra, the private armies were outlawed and each Count was restricted to a guard of twenty Armsmen.

During the time of the occupation of the planet by the off-world Cetagandan Empire, many District Counts may have been removed or even executed, though a few Counts might have retained rule of their Districts in return for supporting the Cetagandan regime. The government of most individual districts might then have been placed in the hands of ghem officers or traitorous Barrayarans (either Vor or proles). In such a case, after the Cetagandans were forced from Barrayar, the district might then have been returned to the original Counts or their heirs and any traitorous, collaborationist, pro-Cetagandan Counts executed for treason and their Districts granted to someone else who would then have been promoted to the rank of High Vor.

Northern District

A Northern District is an area, located in the Northern Continent, of the Empire of Barrayar that shares sovereignty with the Imperium central government. Since the reign of Dorca Vorbarra, there are sixty Northern Districts. A Barrayaran subject is a citizen of both the imperial entity and of his Northern District of domicile. District domicile and residence is flexible and few government approvals are required to move between Districts. Northern Districts vary from the modern to those with large backcountry populations; some provide modern social services, such as medical care and education, while others are more restrictive or old- fashioned. The degree of industrialization also varies widely.
The Barrayaran legal system allocates certain powers to the central government and places some limitations on the Northern District governments. Tasks of public security, public education, public health, transportation, and infrastructure are primarily district responsibilities, although some of these have significant imperial funding and regulation as well.
The District Count is the sole and ultimate ruler of his District. In each of the Districts Counts exercise many of the functions traditionally associated with sovereignty. In the first instance the Counts —rather than the Emperor — collect taxes, administer justice, and claim responsibility for the material and moral welfare of their subjects. Many of the Districts have their own parliamentary bodies representing the estates of the territory. General support for unitary inheritance preserves the Northern Districts to be partitioned. Each Count runs his District on his own, and Districts' organisation and operations are not the same across the continent, although some common models can be found, such as the granting of charters to major cities.
Northern District governments are power originating from the relevant Counts and from the Emperor through their individual legal systems. The general tendency has been toward centralization and incorporation, with the Imperial government playing a much larger role than it once did. For example, the Imperial government, which includes the Council of Counts, can regulate monorail traffic across District borders, but it may also regulate monorail traffic solely within a District, based on the theory that wholly intra-district traffic can still have an impact on inter-district communications. Northern Districts may be divided into further territorial levels, which may be assigned some local authority but are not sovereign; the administrative structure varies widely by District.
Local Count's Justice is also run by and for the District Count, who exercises it either by Count's Voices and by Count's Courts. District Counts are free to organize their individual governments any way they like, so long as they conform to the sole requirement of the Empire general legal custom that they are the ultimate rulers. In practice, each District has adopted a similar system of government generally along similar lines as that of the Imperial government. District Counts can also organize their judicial systems differently from the Imperial judiciary, as long as they protect the duty to procedural due process. Most have a trial level court, an appellate court and a Cassation Court, as well as a Count's Voice system.
Counts' power, however, is not unlimited. The Council of Counts, although it is reluctant to do so, may intervene in disputes between Districts and even between Counts and their subjects. If a Count is excessively autocratic or tyrant in his behiavour, the Council may take harsh measures as exiling or even removing him. Districts are required to give at least faith and credit to the acts of each other's bodies, which is generally held to include the recognition of legal contracts and criminal judgements. Other legal acts are often recognized District-to-district according to the common practice of comity. A District must extradite people located there who have fled serious District charges, if the other District so demands. Districts may also enter into agreements between two or more other Districts. Such agreements are frequently used to manage a shared resource, such as transportation infrastructure or water rights. Northern Continent governance, in the policy areas not pertaining to the Government of the Empire, is carried out by the common agreements over policies or through the open method of coordination.

Historical evolution

From an historical point of view, all Northern Districts originate from the earliest fiscal/administrative boundaries; after the collapse of the early interstellar colonization, original boundaries collapsed as well. While some Districts originate as independent realms, brought to the heels only by the unification wars, some others originate as Districts Palatine, i.e. an area ruled by a hereditary Count possessing special authority and autonomy from the rest of the Empire (or Vorbarras' possessions); it thus implied the exercise of a quasi-imperial prerogative within a District. The Count of a District Palatine swore allegiance to the Emperor yet had the power to rule the county largely autonomously of the Emperor. A District Palatine were different from both feudal possessions held from the Emperor, which possessed no such independent authority, and from independent Districts, which were completely independent. In general, such Districts Palatine were on the periphery of the realm ruled by the Vorbarras. Originally such a rulership was not hereditary, but in practice the hereditary rule of a District Palatine became the norm short after its introduction; ruling houses, however, maintained close ties of allegiance with House Vorbarra. A prominent Count Palatine family is House Vorrutyer; Count Pierre Vorrutyer was the main ally of Emperor Dorcas Vorbarra in the unification wars and in the immediately following period.
With the complete unification of the Northern Continent under the rule of the Vorbarra Emperors, the formerly independent Districts had their status assimilated to those of the Districts Palatine, in order to weaken the desire of rebellion among newly-defeated Counts (Vorrutyer Law, which pairs with the Vorloupolos Law). Today, all Northern Districts are considered to be Districts Palatine held in feudal tenutre by District Counts.

Counts

Coat of Arms of the Vorbarra District. Counts' coats of arms are, for the vast majority of cases, also the coats of arms of the relevant Districts.

Only the Counts exert feudal control, government, protection and administration of the District of the title, with an extension that varies depending on the time and circumstances. For the administration of the District is never allowed the allocation of the powers of legislation, administration, jurisdiction of the imperial agencies and institutions.
Within his district, a Count's power is absolute: His word and his parole are law, and every public official is his servant, sworn to obey his orders: his jurisdiction is his personal property. Within their districts, Counts have a monopoly on both legal and effective force.
In particular, each Count has the duty/right to enforce law and security through his own forces and finances. Each Count is permitted a maximum of twenty Armsmen allowed to carry weapons and serve as bodyguards and security force, although Counts can deploy armed police forces. The Armsmen are often recruited among the most brilliant Imperial officers and soldiers originating from the District, but the entire organization both of administration and the security apparatus is entirely under the Count's own discretion: he has the right to run his District as he sees fit, unless reined in by the Emperor or his brother Counts. Each Count can create local laws, structure District government to suit himself, impose taxes, provide public services, and so forth.

Hereditary and political matters

The hereditary axis of a Count is on three different levels.
The first level, which is essentially governed by public law, concerns the transmission of the right of government. The Government of the District is indivisible and inalienable and, therefore, the Count cannot in any case divide public law functions across multiple successors.
The second level consists of essentially private law functions, but closely linked to the government of the District. Each District has, within its territory, some estates owned by the ruling Count. They are considered not belonging to the functions of government, and therefore the Count can dispose of by private law transactions. These estates could be subdivided across multiple successors. Finally, every Count, as well as any other person of the Empire, may possess personally, personal properties and real estate. The Count, as well as any other person in the Empire, may have personal property through customary instruments of private law.
A Count has to formally appoint his own successor, who usually is his eldest living son. The chosen heir must be formally presented to the Council of Counts and approved by a simple majority of present members. If the Count fails to appoint an heir, or some dispute over the named heir surfaces after the Count’s death, the Council of Counts shall settle the matter. It is keen to underline, however, that a Count doesn't have to be the previous Count's son: the Barrayaran history is plenty of nephews, cousins, skips to other lines, complete breaks due to treason or war or even other reasons. The sole limitation faced by Counts is that although they get to choose their successors, they must not choose another ruling Count or a different district Count's Heir on pain of having the Council and Emperor reject that choice immediately.
A Count's heir speaks with the Count's authority and under his own responsibility and, in the absence of the Count, can vote in the Council of Counts. He may also pronounce justice in the District, if authorized to do so. A female relative cannot be named a Count’s heir, though she may act as guardian (with voting rights) for an infant heir, if there are no other male relations to do so and if authorized by the Emperor.
In their capacity of House Chiefs, Counts are the ultimate civil authority - with the exception of the Emperor - for what regards civil cases of their own House's members. Moreover, they are the ultimate civil and criminal authority for what regards cases within their own Districts.

Law enforcement in traditional districts

The Northern Continent is a feudal society and District Counts jealously guard their independence, rights and privileges. District- and lower-level police forces are under the District Count's own control. The municipal and district guards, whatever organized, are treated as a non-military police force: therefore maintaining an armed and uniformed corps is not a violation of Vorlopoulous' Law.
The district police is simply a Count's own police force, strictly forbidden from any military-type activity. Every District also has a District Militia under the individual Count's direct control, in order to smash any internal subversion and to quell riots: these troops are authorized under Vorlopoulous' Law and may act as hostage-rescue intervention force, as well as a small counterinsurgency force. Under serious circumstances, District Militias have to be able to provide operational support to ImpSec or other Imperial Service units. Sometimes, mainly in traditionally-minded Districts where the Vor landed gentry is still rooted, the Militias take the form of a sort of yeomanry. In a general meaning, every city has a municipal guard, subordinated or not to the its own District command (if existent), according to local government traditions, as well as a central organization for specialized services, which could be placed even under a City Guard direction. An example of Municipal Guard is the Hassadar Municipal Guard, in the Vorkosigan District.
A Count is due fealty from all the people of their district, including the policemen. The difference between a district guardsman and an Armsman is that an Armsman is specifically oath sworn to the Count, while a guardsman, as everyone else, just has the normal duties of everyone in the district.
Between District police services there are several inter-District contacts, as well as traditional rivalries due to both traditional enmities between Districts and to modern-day professional competition. The main and foremost forum devoted to policy coordination is the Justice and Internal Security formation of the Council of Government Delegates of Their Lordship the Counts.
For specialist services, which drain massive resources, there are some common organizations: the Common Police Sub-orbital Aviation Service (CoPSAS), Common Blue Waters Surveillance (CoBWaSUR) and others. These are organized as inter-District cooperations, rather than as government-provided services.
Although uniforms vary according different Districts, rank insignias (and often also titles) are the same of the Imperial police services and of the armed forces both in civilian police forces and in District Militias. There is no District using ranks above State Councillor, 2nd class (corresponding to Imperial Service Rear Admiral/Major General).

Organization of police services

District Counts are absolutely free to organize their own governments and security apparatus according the way they deem to be the best. However, usually District law enforcement follows similar organizational patterns: the main detective agency is the District Bureau of Investigation, however named, a District-level detective agency. They are plain-clothes agencies which usually investigate both criminal and civil cases involving the whole district. They also provide technical support to local agencies in the form of laboratory or record services.
A District bureau is a District's equivalent to the central bodies of the Imperial Police Force. Such bureaus investigate all manner of cases assigned to them by their District's laws and usually report to their District's Prosecutor, or in some cases to their Count. These bureaus can also exist either independently or within a department of public safety (which is an umbrella agency coordinating and/or controlling the various law enforcement agencies) or a District police force (which is a general law enforcement agency). Some, densely populated Districts, such as Vordarian District or others, have well-organized all-encompassing police corps, while other Districts, less populated, like Vorkosigan District, maintain police services only for major communities, occasionally providing support to minor communities in need.

District Militias

The District Militias are preventive District forces responsible for maintaining public order within each District, and are subordinate to the District Count. Although District Militias could trace their origins back to the immediate aftermath of the planetary unification, or even at the time of the Independent Counts, they were established in their current form following the great turmoil of 2960s in order to deploy a territorial militia to crack down limited insurgencies without calling the standing Imperial Service and they are authorized under specific Emperor's Decrees. Each District has its own District Militia, with different formations, rules and uniforms. The Militias are distinct from the Internal Troops, which collaborate with, and Service Security; the District Militias are also reserve troops and ancillary forces of the Imperial Service: in time of war or other emergencies the Militias can be absorbed back into Imperial service, under the supervision of the Service Security, which is in charge of conducting control activities. Most Militias are organized as ground units, but air and naval units also exist. When on Imperial duty, jurisdiction for crimes against civilians is within military courts; when they are on District duty, the jurisdiction is within District Courts.
The function of the District Militias is to serve as a conspicuous public order force: the District Militias of any state are organized as a military force and have a military-based rank structure. Training is weighted more heavily toward riot control and rural manhunt matters, but counterinsurgency training is also carefully included. Arms and equipment of state forces include machine guns and armoured cars, in addition to other items generally associated with police. The District Militias, ancillary forces and Imperial Service reserve, are subordinate to the District Counts for all their duties. District Militias are often commanded by honourably retired military officers originating from the District, but that is not strictly mandatory; being legally authorized military (or at least paramilitary, for the stablest Districts) formations, both High and lesser Vors can serve within them without facing any treason charge. The Commandant of a District Militia is usually a Colonel, and the District is usually divided into regions. District Militias are often organized into Battalions or Squadrons, Companies or Troops, platoons, and subdivided into Squads. Major units are based in major urban centres, and their companies and platoons are distributed according to population density.

Special ranks of District Militias

District Militias are always commanded by a Colonel, but often they are by far larger than a Regiment ever could be. Therefore, top ranks (Commandant, Deputy Commandant and Chief of Staff) are still considered as Colonel, but enjoy of a superior position than "ordinary" colonels which could be present in the District Militia. When absorbed back into the Imperial Service, "special" Colonels are considered as mere Colonels.

Open method of coordination

Count Selig Vorkosigan carried out numerous administrative reforms of his District. Togheter with Vordrozda and Vorgarin Houses, he established the first ever Standing Conference of Their Most Serene Graces the Counts of the Central Dendarii.

The open method of coordination is a means of governance in the Northern Continent, based on the voluntary cooperation of its Districts. The open method of coordination is a light but structured way Northern Districts use to cooperate at continental/planetary level. This method helps to build consensus on solutions and their practical implementation.
The open method rests on mechanisms such as guidelines and indicators, benchmarking and sharing of best practice. This means that there are no official sanctions for laggards. Rather, the method's effectiveness relies on a form of peer pressure and naming and shaming, as no participating District wants to be seen as the worst in a given policy area; of course, if it is deemed that a policy is not in the interests of his District, each Count may exit from the policy coordination or by the method altogether.
The open method of coordination works in stages. Firstly, a board made up by participating District Counts (or their representatives) or in some cases the Council of Counts agrees on broad policy goals. Secondly, participating Districts then transpose guidelines into internal policies. Thirdly, specific benchmarks and indicators to measure best practice are agreed upon. Finally, results are monitored and evaluated. However, the open method of coordination differs significantly across the various policy areas to which it has been applied. It is a decentralised approach through which agreed policies are largely implemented by the participating Districts and supervised by the board or the Council of Counts. The Government of the Empire has primarily a monitoring role; in practice, however, there is considerable scope for it to help set the policy agenda and (albeit to a lesser extent) persuade reluctant participating Districts to implement agreed policies. Under the open method of coordination, experts from District governments meet 6 to 8 times over 18 months to exchange good practice and produce policy manuals or tool-kits.
The actual method of coordination are based principally on jointly identifying and defining objectives to be achieved, jointly established measuring instruments and benchmarking, i.e. comparison of the Member States' performance and exchange of best practices (monitored by the Government of the Empire).
The Government of the Empire is responsible for organising the coordination processes, hosting most of its meetings, reimbursing travel expenses, and supporting participating Districts with research and studies. The Government does not chair coordination meetings or decide who participates; it is the responsibility of District governments to designate the members of each group, who elect their own chair at the first meeting. The group decides if and how to involve additional experts. The Government of the Empire also produces reports on the implementation of the processes.

Justice and Internal Security formation

The main and foremost forum devoted to policy coordination is the Justice and Internal Security formation of the Council of Government Delegates of Their Lordship the Counts. The Justice and Internal Security formation develops cooperation and common policies on various cross-border issues. This formation is made up of justice and internal security officials from all the Northern Districts. In general, justice oficials deal with judicial cooperation in both civil and criminal law, internal security officials are responsible for migration, border management and police cooperation, among other matters. The JIS formation is also responsible for civil protection and usually meets every two months. All Districts participate in the implementation of the measures which are deliberated by the Counts themselves.
The Council of Government Delegates of Their Lordship the Counts proposes to the Council of Contus to adopt legislation aimed at guaranteeing a high level of protection and security. It is responsible for internal immigration policies, judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters, civil protection and the fight against serious and organised crime. The Council is also in charge of facilitating and strengthening coordination of Districts' actions in the field of internal security. It does this by seeking to enhance police and customs cooperation.

Northern District Law

The sixty Northern Districts are suzerain powers with their own legal systems. They retain full power to make laws covering anything not pre-empted by the Imperial prerogatives, statutes, or interstellar treaties ratified by the Empire.
All Northern Districts have a judicial branch that applies and interprets both state statutes and regulations, as well as ordinances. Normally, District Counts or, on their behalf, District supreme courts (if present) are the final interpreters of District law, unless their interpretation itself presents a Imperial supremacy issue, in which case a decision may be appealed to the Supreme Court of the Empire. The right to petition the District Count is not universal, nor granted to everyone by the Imperial Law; one way to get it was to have one’s father die in military service. Every District, if it desires so, can establish more favourable laws, however. In Northern Districts the criminal procedure is very varied because each Count deals with its own traditions and preferences, but there are some common models.
The so-called "Organic Model", which includes a mostly inquisitorial proceeding, provides that Village Speaker (or Town Magistrate: the local representative and chief official) Speaks also serious crimes as a court of first instance; its judgements may be appealed to the District or Circuit Magistrate as a court of appeal and second instance, and then to the Count or to his Voice, who is the final appeal instance. Against Count's judgement, no appeal may be enacted under the local District law.

Counts Count is a title and position in the government of Barrayar. There are 60 Districts on Northern Continent of Barrayar, each governed by a Vor with the title of Count. On Barrayar, Count derives from accountant, as they were originally Imperial Tax Collectors and Accountants.Each Count must maintain two official residences, one in the capital Vorbarr Sultana, and another in his District capital. An ordinary Count family has at its disposal a Town House in Vorbarr Sultana (Vor- House, e.g. Vorkosigan House), a District Capital House and most often also an official Country House. Usually Country Houses are the ancestral family seats (or their remanants). It is keen to underline that the Count office, although with several feudal features and traits, still remains a State office. The office of District Count is hereditary, i.e. passed from father to the eldest male son. Although exact hereditary criterya do vary from house to house, the (partial) exclusion of the women has developed and consolidated throught the Bloody Centuries and it was consciously adopted to minimize the chances that a VorX would be the most direct blood heir to other Counts of other families. The exclusion of the female line was strongly encouraged by every strong Emperor in order to prevent one Count from completely conquering another Count's District and trying to merge them into one or run both Countships in parallel; this policy was consistently enforced even by the whole Council of Counts over the centuries. The concrete, ordinary-day power of the Counts lies in the power of what they privately possess. The land the Counts own covers city blocks and country lands. The Counts control hundreds of livings which give the right to appoint local officials, also outside their own jurisdictions as District rulers. This right means he is in a position to give employment to a substantial number of men. Other Counts and High Vors work in various ministries in the Government of the Empire. Each ministry has a number of patronage spots.

Count District versus Countship

A Count District is the territory or geopolitical entity ruled by a Count. The term implies a territorial domain, within which the Count has actual subjects and maybe significant land holdings, with respect to which the Count has unique legal privileges. A Countship is the title or status of a Count, a rank in the Vor caste, although it is attached to a District. The Count Vorbarra holds both the Countship (title) and Count District (where he holds several estate holdings), the latter being the source of his personal income.

Count Districts

Count Districts are the subdivisions of the Northern Continent of Barrayar. Only the Counts exert feudal control, government, protection and administration of the District of the title, with an extension that varies depending on the time and circumstances. For the administration of the District is never allowed the allocation of the powers of legislation, administration, jurisdiction of the imperial agencies and institutions. Within his district, a Count's power is absolute: His word and his parole are law, and every public official is his servant, sworn to obey his orders: his jurisdiction is his personal property. Within their districts, Counts have a monopoly on both legal and effective force. In particular, each Count has the duty/right to enforce law and security through his own forces and finances. Each Count is permitted a maximum of twenty Armsmen allowed to carry weapons and serve as bodyguards and security force, although Counts can deploy armed police forces. The Armsmen are often recruited among the most brilliant Imperial officers and soldiers originating from the District, but the entire organization both of administration and the security apparatus is entirely under the Count's own discretion: he has the right to run his District as he sees fit, unless reined in by the Emperor or his brother Counts. Each Count can create local laws, structure District government to suit himself, impose taxes, provide public services, and so forth. Districts vary from the modern to those with large backcountry populations; some provide modern social services, such as medical care and education, while others are more restrictive or old- fashioned. The degree of industrialization also varies widely. Almost every District has an industrial shuttleport.

Historical evolution

From an historical point of view, all Count Districts originate from the earliest fiscal/administrative boundaries; after the collapse of the early interstellar colonization, original boundaries collapsed as well. While some Districts originate as independent realms, brought to the heels only by the unification wars, some others originate as Districts Palatine, i.e. an area ruled by a hereditary Count possessing special authority and autonomy from the rest of the Empire (or Vorbarras' possessions); it thus implied the exercise of a quasi-imperial prerogative within a District. The Count of a District Palatine swore allegiance to the Emperor yet had the power to rule the county largely autonomously of the Emperor. A District Palatine were different from both feudal possessions held from the Emperor, which possessed no such independent authority, and from independent Districts, which were completely independent. In general, such Districts Palatine were on the periphery of the realm ruled by the Vorbarras. Originally such a rulership was not hereditary, but in practice the hereditary rule of a District Palatine became the norm short after its introduction; ruling houses, however, maintained close ties of allegiance with House Vorbarra. A prominent Count Palatine family is House Vorrutyer; Count Pierre Vorrutyer was the main ally of Emperor Dorcas Vorbarra in the unification wars and in the immediately following period. With the complete unification of the Northern Continent under the rule of the Vorbarra Emperors, the formerly independent Districts had their status assimilated to those of the Districts Palatine, in order to weaken the desire of rebellion among newly-defeated Counts (Vorrutyer Law, which pairs with the Vorloupolos Law). Today, all Count Districts are considered to be Districts Palatine held in feudal tenutre by District Counts.

Rights and Privileges

Counts enjoy many privileges. They, their wives and their Heirs have the right to be tried for treason and felony only in Council of Counts; they do not have to serve on ordinary juries (neither do convicted felons, lunatics, or undischarged bankrupts); they cannot be arrested for forty days before and after Council of Counts is in session. A Count and an Count's Heir is barred from voting in parliamentary elections and from sitting in the Council of the Little People (again in the company of lunatics and felons). But the principal right of a Count is to a seat in the upper house of Parliament, the Council of Counts. A Count sits in the upper house of Parliament - the Council of Counts. There are a few more qualifiers: a Count may not take his seat if he is under the age of twenty. In this case, a special Count's Voice and Guardian has to be appointed. Younger sons of Counts can sit in the Council of the Little People. Counts usually consider themselves to "own" certain Council of the Little People seats - those from their district - and often the "election" of their sons or nephews to those seats is mere formality. It is easy to see that with this sort of system, the Counts could control Council of the Little People votes and thereby pretty much control government.

Hereditary and political matters

The hereditary axis of a Count is on three different levels. The first level, which is essentially governed by public law, concerns the transmission of the right of government. The Government of the District is indivisible and inalienable and, therefore, the Count cannot in any case divide public law functions across multiple successors. The second level consists of essentially private law functions, but closely linked to the government of the District. Each District has, within its territory, some estates owned by the ruling Count. They are considered not belonging to the functions of government, and therefore the Count can dispose of by private law transactions. These estates could be subdivided across multiple successors. Finally, every Count, as well as any other person of the Empire, may possess personally, personal properties and real estate. The Count, as well as any other person in the Empire, may have personal property through customary instruments of private law. A Count has to formally appoint his own successor, who usually is his eldest living son. The chosen heir must be formally presented to the Council of Counts and approved by a simple majority of present members. If the Count fails to appoint an heir, or some dispute over the named heir surfaces after the Count’s death, the Council of Counts shall settle the matter. It is keen to underline, however, that a Count doesn't have to be the previous Count's son: the Barrayaran history is plenty of nephews, cousins, skips to other lines, complete breaks due to treason or war or even other reasons. The sole limitation faced by Counts is that although they get to choose their successors, they must not choose another ruling Count or a different district Count's Heir on pain of having the Council and Emperor reject that choice immediately. A Count's heir speaks with the Count's authority and under his own responsibility and, in the absence of the Count, can vote in the Council of Counts. He may also pronounce justice in the District, if authorized to do so. A female relative cannot be named a Count’s heir, though she may act as guardian (with voting rights) for an infant heir, if there are no other male relations to do so and if authorized by the Emperor. In their capacity of House Chiefs, Counts are the ultimate civil authority - with the exception of the Emperor - for what regards civil cases of their own House's members. Moreover, they are the ultimate civil and criminal authority for what regards cases within their own Districts.

Vorbarr Sultana extraterritoriality

Each Count has his own official residence in Vorbarr Sultana: this residence is legally part of his district, and enjoys extraterritorial rights, retaining them since the Time of Isolation. During this age, Counts forced past Emperors to give them extraterritorial rights for their Houses within the capital city: this permitted the building of several castles and fortresses. The city town house (or fortress) of the Count was used by him not as a home but as a private place of temporary lodging, with a permanent staff, where he was treated almost as an occasional guest. In more recent years, near to the unification of the planet under the Vorbarra Emperors, castles were mostly replaced by large houses, with some of the old castles being passed to the Imperium: the Council of Counts itself meets in Vorhartung Castle. Nowadays High Vors are known to spend significant periods in Vorbarr Sultana.

Trial by Counts

Just as other people have a right to trial by a jury of their equals, Counts, their wives and their Heirs have a right to trial by other Counts. No Count may be brought in judgment to lose his temporalities, nor to be arrested, imprisoned, outlawed, exiled, nor forejudged, nor put to answer, nor be judged, but by the other Counts. The power to choose which Counts serves as Lord Prosecutors lay with the Crown and is sometimes subject to abuse. In the Council of Counts, the Lord Steward and President of Session of the Counts is the President of the Court, and the entire Council determines both questions of fact and questions of law as well as the verdict. At the end of the trial, Counts vote on the question before them by standing and declaring their verdict by saying "guilty, upon my honour" or "not guilty, upon my honour", starting with the most junior and proceeding in order of precedence ending with the Emperor. For a guilty verdict, a majority is necessary. The entire Council also determines the punishment to be imposed, which has to accord with the law. For capital crimes the punishment is death by starvation. If a Count, his Heir or his Wife is convicted of a crime, except treason or murder, he or she could claim the "Privilege of the Land" to escape punishment if it is their first offence. The Privilege is exercised very rarely.