Judge (2000 AD) - Training

Training

Before becoming fully fledged street judges, cadet judges usually must spend 15 years (or, exceptionally, 13 years for fast-tracked cadets) at the Academy of Law, where they receive the intensive training and conditioning that will enable them to enforce law and order in the chaotic and confusing environment of Mega-City One.

A cadet is inducted into the Academy either as a cloned infant (as was the case with Judge Dredd), or as a child aged five (although in exceptional cases older children have been recruited). After this the Academy is the recruit's entire world; unsupervised contact with the city outside is forbidden under any circumstances in order to maintain the strictest discipline and mental conditioning.

However, cadet Judges must leave both the Academy and the city itself during their "Hotdog Run". This is a training mission into the Cursed Earth, in order to test the cadets under combat conditions; fatalities are not unknown. A senior Judge will command and assess the cadets during the Hotdog Run.

On graduating from the Academy, cadets become known as rookie judges. A rookie's uniform is similar to that of a full judge, with two differences: the helmet is white rather than black and red, and the badge consists of only one half of a full judge's badge and does not show the rookie's name (this design is sometimes varied by artists; see illustration, right). (Note however that some artists have wrongly depicted cadets in rookies' uniforms, and rookies in full judges' uniforms.)

Before becoming a full judge, a rookie must undergo assessment on the streets by a more experienced Senior Judge in order to gauge their suitability and competence. The failure rate is extremely high, with no second chances allowed. The few who pass their Final Assessment exchange their white helmet and "half-eagle" for the black and red helmet and "full eagle" at a brief ceremony before the chief judge.

Notable characters who have been seen taking their final assessments are the original Judge Giant, the other Judge Giant, Judge Rico, Judge Kraken, and Dredd himself (in flashbacks). The film Dredd depicts Judge Anderson's final assessment.

Cadets who fail to graduate are expelled from the Academy. Rookies who fail their final assessment used to have no right of appeal, but this has been shown to no longer be the case. Failed cadets and rookies become civilians, and are either employed as auxiliaries or leave the Justice Department altogether.