Law enforcement in the Reunited Kingdom of Arnor and Gondor

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Law enforcement in the Reunited Kingdom of Arnor and Gondor is one of three major components of the criminal justice system of the Reunited Kingdom of Arnor and Gondor, along with courts and punishment. Although each component operates semi-independently, the three collectively form a chain leading from investigation of suspected criminal activity to administration of criminal punishment.

Law enforcement operates primarily through local and royal bodies dedicated to this purpose. The purposes of these agencies are the investigation of suspected criminal activity, referral of the results of investigations to the proper courts, and the temporary detention of suspected criminals pending judicial action. Other duties may include the service and enforcement of warrants, writs, and other orders of the courts.

Police and military

The police work in the Reunited Kingdom is conceptually distinct from, but ultimately akin to, military service. Police work is intended as a self-regulatory function of the body which is involved in a given case. The individual lord is given the responsibility to protect and keep his or her own domain in peace, and this duty ranges from protecting from the few external enemies to carrying out surveillance over subordinates and liege-men; similarly, the individual free community keeps on by itself, taking care of its own space.

On the other hand, the power to exercise force and to govern a land is indissolubly connected to the grant from the High King, in his capacity of supreme leader of the armed hosts of the West. Therefore any armed man is a member of the hosts of the High King, but also the judicial function is derived from the authority of the High King himself, but under a different flow.

Lords and mayors of towns and cities are answerable to the relevant governor for each of the Drannin, who are in turn answerable to provincial governors, who are answerable to the High King. This institutional arrangement is predicated on the desire of those in power wishing to maintain the status quo. The High King must be appeased by security of the realms. Those who are the best at providing the king with the peace of the lands, are likely to remain in power: this mechanism induces governors to try to appease the High King, lords and mayors trying to appease the governors, and lower classes bearing the responsibility to comply.

Royal policing

Narvinyo of the House of Sairweg is the current Spymaster and head of the policing bodies of the Reunited Kingdom. He is derisively called "The Black Spider" by his enemies.

The Royal and common laws are enforced by dedicated bodies, which operate at the highest level and are endowed with police roles. Royal bodies are usually limited to investigating only matters that are within the tasks not under the purview and the care of the local lords. However, investigative powers of the "central" bodies may become become very broad in practice.

The Spymaster (Ethirtur) is responsible for law enforcement duties at the central level. It includes the Royal Congregation for Investigation of Crimes, the Congregation for Vice and Evil, the Bureau of Treason and other bodies.

At a crime or disaster scene affecting large numbers of people, multiple jurisdictions, or broad geographic areas, command is a complex and flexible issue.

In accordance with the royal nature of the state of the West, the power to execute police and security power is ordinarily granted to the local cities, lords and chiefs, as well as to the governors of the provinces, but the ultimate repository of authority is the High King, who has the duty to take care of the well-being of his subjects and, therefore, may in any moment override jurisdictions and boundaries.

This means that if a crime is committed against a local law or custom, and the fugitive does not flee the land where the crime has been committed, the royal government has no ordinary jurisdiction.

Royal Congregation for Investigation of Crimes

The Royal Congregation for Investigation of Crimes is the domestic security service of the Reunited Kingdom of Arnor and Gondor, and its principal law enforcement agency. The Congregation is authorised to detect and prosecute crimes against the High King and his realm, as well as to counter any sign of influence of the Enemy: however, the main focus is the eradication of the servants of Evil and of the Enemy.

Information obtained through an investigation is presented to the appropriate Promoter of Justice of the King, who decides if prosecution or other action is warranted. The Emissaries of the Royal Congregation often serve as prosecutors in a trial against a person suspected to be a servant of the Enemy.

Reunited Kingdom of Arnor and Gondor has, as conceptually distinct from subordinate bodies, direct jurisdiction over violations of the royal and fundamental laws and indirect jurisdiction over all other violations. The Congregation for Investigation of Crimes was first established by Ruling Steward Cirion in T.A. 2554, in order to rein in the powerful Gondorian nobles; in T.A. 3020 the "Royal" adjective was added and the organisation was transferred to the Spymaster. The organisation experienced a decline in the first two centuries of the Fourth Age. In 201, Tar Eldarion revived it in order to investigate rumours of secret cults worshipping the Evil or the Enemy. The current Chartulary is Súrihil of Perras.

Working culture

Characterised by no-nonsense demeanour, and penchant for persecuting servants of the Enemy, few evoke terror in the guilty and the innocent like Emissaries of the Royal Congregation for Investigation of Crimes. Feared and respected, loved and hated, Emissaries are both the bane of civilisation and its salvation. Ruthless killers, they serve the interests of the High King by putting torch to corruption wherever they find it. Many agents of the Congregation specialize in a particular field of investigation.

Organisation

The Royal Congregation for Investigation of Crimes operates under the supervision of the Spymaster. The Royal Congregation for Investigation of Crimes is lead by a Chartulary. The Royal Congregation is organized into functional offices and the Office of the Chartulary, which contains most administrative offices. A Maintetar manages each Office. Each Office is then divided into several working groups.

Under the Chartulary, the Congregation is organised on a decentralized plan: it is divided into the Western (north the White Mountains and West the Misty Mountains), Southern (Gondor, Nurn, Harondor, Umbar and southern lands), and Eastern (Rhovanion and generally any other region) Districts, with each District commanded by a Emissary-General. While each District is semi-autonomous in its activity, the Congregation is generally organized into a quasi-military hierarchy defined by rank and responsibility:

  • Emissary General - Officer, responsible for an entire District of Chapter Houses.
  • Emissary Captain – Officer, responsible for maintaining a Chapter House.
  • Emissary – field agent of the Congregation. Field agents operate rather autonomously, often accompanied by a small retinue of followers. However, Emissaries do use the Chapter Houses regularly as places to rest, resupply, share information, house prisoners, cooperate with colleagues in need of assistance, and receive orders from their superiors.
  • Apprentice – trainee of the Congregation, assigned to a Chapter House to learn the skills, discipline, and knowledge needed to fight off the Evil.

In addition to Apprentices, an Emissary might have many different kinds of followers in their retinue. These kinds of followers include warriors, who act as bodyguards and additional military support, lore masters, zealots, and other followers. In addition to the traveling retinues of the individual Emissary, the Chapter Houses of the Congregation require a large staff to keep the Order functioning smoothly. Some of these assistants include preceptors, who help train Apprentices, scribes, librarians, and learned men, responsible for recording, maintaining, and researching through the vast amount of written records that the Congregation compiles, but also artisans and labourers, domestics, healers, cellarers and trainers.

Royal Agents

The Royal Agents (Gondorian Sindarin: Arnehillim; Westron: Arafesar) are the Western courier service and general agents of the central government.

Their institution dates back to T.A. 1530, when King Aldamir sought to achieve a better control of the Gondorian provinces. The central royal administration needed couriers, and the Arnehillim filled this role. Originally they acted as dispatch carriers, but eventually assumed wide-ranging inspection duties. Under the Kings they were managed by the Steward, but, under the Ruling Stewards, the Spymaster took charge of all inspection organisations, including the "Agents of Gondor" (as they had been known from T.A. 2050 to T.A. 3019). Royal Agents are commonly known as King's Men, but this nickname is shunned from learned men, for it reminds the Númenorean King's Men, against the Valar and in favour of Sauron.

The Royal Agents are formed into a military Company, and their service is militarised, and considered a militia. Indeed, the Royal Agents were divided into five ranks, taken from the junior cavalry officers: Knight, Sergeant, Cornet, Bannerman, and Knight banneret. Usually at least five Royal Agents are appointed in each province, but more may be appointed and also a central depot exists. Each Royal Agent is normally promoted into other branches of the government. The Law of Immunities (enacted by King Telumehtar in T.A. 1802) granted Royal Agents immunity from prosecution both civil and criminal, unless otherwise sanctioned by the Steward. Senior Agents are regularly appointed to the post of chiefs of staff of the provinces, thus exercising control over these departments' bureaucracy and reducing its independence.

Agents' duties include the supervision of the roads and inns of the public postal system, the carrying of letters, or verifying that a traveller is carrying the correct warrant while using the postal system. Further duties assigned to the agents include the role of customs officers, the supervision of public works and the billeting of soldiers, as well as supervision and arrest of senior officials as required, escort of prominent people into exile, and other duties. Sometimes they are used as ambassadors on less important occasions.

Other tasks include supervising the provincial bureaucracy and delivering Royal commands, often staying in the area to ensure their implementation. Being outside the control of the provincial governors, some Agents are appointed as inspectors. As their routine assignments bring them into contact with matters of great concern to the court, they report back to the court on everything they see or hear on their missions.

The current Agent-General is Condir Hayred of Arrûth.

Royal Cities

In the Reunited Kingdom, a Royal City (Arnen Caras) is a city which has a special government due its own great importance. A Royal City is not part of any province and, and as such, is subordinate only to the High King. Royal Cities have the duty to maintain their own warden (including investigative services), militia and standing forces.

As of 275, there are four Royal Cities: Minas Anor, Osgiliath, Annuminas and Fornost Erain.

Province

All provinces (of Arnor, of Gondor, and the provinces of Enedwaith and of Rhovanion) operate agencies that provide law enforcement duties. With the notable exception of Belfalas and of the Shire, they are subdivisions of the Royal Congregations and are supervised by a dedicated delegate of the relevant provincial head. In addition, the local chief justice of each Province has its own committee of investigation.

Drann

Within the Province, each Drann is assigned a contingent of the security bodies and the relevant Condir is responsible for overall order and security in his own jurisdiction. Alongside to the overall security tasks, the Condir is in charge to provide security to non-autonomous towns and lands which are not part of any lord's domain and to the relevant portion of the royal demesne.

In all the countryside governed by the Drann, gendarmerie or even military units are stationed at strategic points such as river-crossings and road-centres. In some special cases, however, a particularly important city may constitute a district of its own; in this case, urban Drannin merge in a single force all organisations otherwise separate.

Lords and cities

Local entities have the first-instance jurisdiction and they deal with any crime or wrongdoing in its initial stages. Each city has some of its own laws and rules to live by. Communities also punish 'crimes' themselves that didn't fall under the legal system: outsiders might face public humiliation backed by the threat of force.

Both fiefdoms and lordships, on one hand, and cities and towns, on the other hand, have the right to administer on their own the small justice, i.e. all laws not pertaining the King's High Justice.

The most basic task of a lord is to maintain order in his lands. Wile the King's Peace has descended since decades on the West, the lands are still beset with peril and fell evil. Men look to their own defence and seek to protect themselves in any way they can. Without the maintenance of order, brigands would swarm the countryside. Most lords maintain a militia, ranging from irregularly employed ruffians to uniformed troops, to impose their will on their subjects. How such militias are viewed by the population depends very much upon the manner in which they maintain order, for while some are veterans of the provincial armies well used to discipline, others are sadistic bullies with little genuine regard for their master’s laws. The maintenance of order is dependent upon the laws that the local noble chooses to enact and the judgement he passes in his court. At the most basic level, the local noble is expected to implement the laws of his superiors and impose his own as best befits the needs of his lands. In most cases, the local noble hears the grievances of his tenants and passes his judgement accordingly, in so doing establishing a body of principle by which his lands are governed. Some nobles take great pains to hear both sides in detail, consider the matter carefully, and apply every precedent relevant to the case, employing numerous clerks and factors to assist him, while others are uncaring, passing whatever judgement befits their mood.

Incorporated lands

Within the Drann, an estate or a settlement is incorporated when is given the right to establish itself according some rules laid down by the King. A lord or an autonomous city (i.e. its government) has authority over all inhabitants resident on its territory, subjects and estates. This power of rule is basically all-encompassing, but it is limited by the royal laws and edicts, by customary rights, by contracts with non-resident persons or agreements with other lords and autonomous cities, but also by equity, justice and by divine law. It is possible that subjects or estates bring before the High King a complaint against their lord.

Descending from the granting of authority, lords and autonomous cities (i.e. settlements which are autonomous or which are granted their own charter of rights and privileges) have the duty to protect their own people and to keep the King's Peace and most often they maintain wardens corps. Such organisations are in charge of typical local enforcement duties such as patrol and (basic) investigations for local laws and customs. In particular, lords hold the right (which is also a duty) to deliver small justice in lands attributed to their jurisdiction.

Bailiffs are appointed by the local lord and act as overseers of the local lord's laws, village-based bi-laws, and they also collect land rents from peasants for the local nobility. Settlements within local lordship remain part of their local lord's domain; these settlements may maintain their own warden organisations, but these wardens are dependent on the relevant lord (although they may be entrusted to a local magistrate).

In the cities, small forces of gendarmes, often recruited from poorer people, act under the direction of civilian magistrates. Magistrates generally move to keep social order and the peace, usually by violence. They also keep the curfew. Most lands and cities have laws protecting the local population from abuse or mistreatment, even by members of the nobility. However, those laws differ and are enforced in varying degrees, mostly depending on the disposition of the local lord or magistrate.

Unincorporated lands

Unincorporated lands and settlements are those lands which are not under a lord with granted authority nor have they a their own statute or granted rights.

Such unincorporated lands and non-autonomous townships remain part of their relevant Drann. Lands without a lord, have Condir-appointed Bailiffs. Those cities and towns which are not autonomous or which are not granted their own charter of rights and privileges are governed and administered by an Ostherdir (Sindarin for Town-Prefect). Although they are not autonomous, these settlements mostly have their own town wardens corps to augment their parent law enforcement body (either those of lords or the Drann security apparatus). Town warden corps are often small, and may deploy a combination of paid and nonpaid, full and part-time officials, including auxiliary wardens who typically serve as part-time, unpaid volunteers.

The Shire

Almost three centuries into the Age of Men, the Shire keeps the relaxed and informal approach to a largely peaceful security environment. The Shirriffs, also known as the "Watch", are the sole form of law enforcement in the Shire.

The position of Shirriff is a voluntary honour and engagement. Traditionally, there are a total of twelve Shirriffs, three for each Farthing, though more could be called up in time of need (for example when there is need of an increased standing vigilance but not of a Hobbitry-in-Arms). The Shirriffs are headed by the Chief Shirriff which is answerable to the Mayor of Michel Delving in his capacity of First Shirriff.

The Bounders are an organisation within the Watch, charged with patrolling and defending the borders. Along with the Shirriffs-service, they are charged with responsibility of keeping strangers and strange creatures from entering the Shire and making trouble. They wander and patrol parts of the Shire and its borders as part of their duties. Their numbers can easily increase at any need.

See also