Judge (2000 AD) - Foreign Variations

Foreign Variations

Every Mega-City seen is policed and run (either completely or partially) by a Judge system, which more or less resembles that of Mega-City One. Variations exist on the uniforms and overall system of government:

• Some Judge systems, such as the Irish (Murphyville) and Australian (Sydney-Melbourne Conurb) ones, have far more lenient and relaxed laws and codes of practise for Judges. Conversely, Russia's East-Meg Two has a far more militarised and oppressive law, while Japan's Hondo City has a more disciplined and stoic culture among the Judges. Casablancan Judges operate under Sufi-based law.

• Several systems are openly corrupt and serving the ruling figures - Ciudad Barranquilla is traditionally the main example, and the mafia had taken over and become the Judges in Las Vegas. (An extremely high number of foreign Judge systems have been revealed to be corrupt in spin-off strips - Armitage reveals Brit-Cit justice to be corrupt and run by former ganglords, Shimura has Hondo justice infiltrated by the yakuza, Breathing Space has corrupt Luna-1 Judges...)

• The remit of the Judges may be different – the Pan-African Judges are an inter-continental peacekeeping force.
• Control may not rest solely with the Judges, or at all: Japan still retains the Shogun as constitutional monarch, the Vatican's Judges (and the city itself) are still answerable to the Pope and senior priests, and Scotland's Cal-Hab Judges are a subordinate branch of Brit-City.
• Lunar colony Luna-1 traditionally gained many of its Judges from foreign Mega-Cities, and until 2099 the position of Judge Marshal was replaced every six months and held by a senior Earth Judge. It finally gained a mostly domestic Judge system solely because, following cataclysms like Judgement Day, the Earth cities could not afford to send off any Judges.
• Brit-Cit's Justice Department has much of its internal work done by Administrators, who do not have judicial powers; in other Mega-Cities, almost every worker is a Judge (up to and including accountants).
• The Judicial forces of Brit-Cit, Murphyville, and Sino-Cit allow Judges to marry, have children and have some form of civilian life. Many other Mega-Cities stick with a monastic code, especially MC-1.
• Some Judges deliberately pattern their uniforms after their country's flag.

The foreign Judge stories and spin-off strips have been criticised for relying too much on foreign stereotypes and cliches – Egypt's Judges are based on Ancient Egyptians, the South American Judges are corrupt and incompetent and speak in exaggerated accents, Japanese Judges are samurai figures etc.

Places that lack a Judge force include the Mediterranean Free State, Mongolian Exclusion Zone, Canadia (Canada), and the Web (Borneo and Indonesian islands). In some cases, this is a deliberate choice; in others, such as the Web, it is because they cannot afford it.