Judge (2000 AD) - Overview

Overview

Judges are the product of many years' training and psychological conditioning. Training, which takes place in the Academy of Law, generally begins at age five. The Judges recruit promising children, and grow their own clones. Judge Dredd is himself one of the clones of the Judges' founder, Chief Judge Fargo.

The Judges themselves are not above the law – a violation that would earn a citizen a few months in an Iso-Cube would get a Judge a twenty-year sentence, to be served as hard labor on Saturn's moon, Titan, after surgical modification to enable the convict to survive in Titan's atmosphere without needing an expensive space suit.

The Judges are led by a Chief Judge and a Council of Five. The Judges have their own domestic intelligence division (the Public Surveillance Unit), and their own medical facilities. There are a number of specialist divisions within the Judges, notably Psi Division, which consists of psychic judges used to predict the future and read minds, and Tek Division, made up of forensic scientists and engineers. The SJS (Special Judicial Squad) monitor and police the Judges internally.

In the Judge Dredd future history, the Judge System originated in the United States (see History of Mega-City One), but spread to other countries around the world. In most of these nations the Judges are not only responsible for law enforcement but also control all aspects of the government. Of course, not all of these different Justice Departments are identical to the Mega-City One Judges. The Judges of Ireland, for example, are not only allowed to drink and smoke, they are also allowed to get married, whereas MC-1 Judges are prohibited from having love lives and have virtually no private lives of their own. Corruption is endemic amongst the Judges of Brit-Cit, and bribery is often essential to progress through the ranks of what is, compared to Mega-City's Judge system, little more than an authorized militia- or protection racket.

Judges also hear civil cases in block courts. These are courts in each City Block, where judges are assigned to try civil cases, such as compensation claims, libel, slander, divorce, alimony and small claims matters.

Notable Judges appearing in the series include Judge Anderson (of Psi Division), Judge Hershey, Judge Kraken, Judge Giant and the eponymous Judge Dredd.