Guild of Adjudicators

The Guild of Adjudicators, (PROSE: Original Sin) also called the Adjudicators' Bureau or Bureau of Interplanetary Affairs, (TV: Colony in Space) Adjudicator Intelligence, or simply the Ravens, (PROSE: GodEngine) was an organisation dedicated to enforcing the law across the colonies of Earth. (PROSE: Original Sin, TV: Colony in Space)

Their motto was "Justice by your side. Fairness be your friend." (PROSE: Original Sin)

Structure
The Guild of Adjudicators was led by the Adjudicator in Extremis. (PROSE: Lucifer Rising, The Dark Path) The Head of the Order of Adjudicators was known as the Pontifex Saecularis. (PROSE: So Vile a Sin) Its base and training location was Ponten VI (PROSE: Lucifer Rising) and later Ponten IV. The Adjudicator (and companion of the Seventh Doctor) Chris Cwej graduated from the latter in 2974. Chris and his partner Roz Forrester worked on Earth, where they patrolled the Overcity. (PROSE: Original Sin)

Adjudicators were uncommon in the Earth Empire. They were used for their investigative and intelligence skills, though they did have some military power. (PROSE: The Dark Path)

History
The Guild of Adjudicators was founded in the 21st century and was then known as Adjudicator Intelligence. The founding panel included an ancestor of Chris Cwej, whose family worked within the organisation for centuries. In the early days, the Adjudicators functioned like "galactic sheriffs". (PROSE: Original Sin) In the lead-up to the 22nd century Dalek invasion, Adjudicators were sometimes called Ravens, (PROSE: GodEngine) a name they kept until the 25th century. (PROSE: Lucifer Rising) During the Dalek invasion, the Adjudicators were based on Uranus' moon Oberon, which became the centre of the resistance movement against the Daleks. Oberon remained an important Adjudicator base into the 30th century. (PROSE: GodEngine)

By the 25th century, they were officially known as the Bureau of Interplanetary Affairs, though they were also referred to as the Adjudicators' Bureau. Adjudicators were sent from planet to planet and resolved disputes using Earth law. This was a tedious process and frequently lasted for months. posed as the Adjudicator Martin Jurgens on Uxarieus in 2472. (TV: Colony in Space)

Over time, the Adjudicators became more like a police force than a judicial system. (PROSE: The Dark Path) The Book of the War described them as a high-risk, heavily-armed law enforcement agency. (PROSE: The Book of the War)

After the Galactic Federation was formed, a President of Earth sent Adjudicators Hall and Splane to settle the Draconian Civil War, but they were assassinated before reaching Draconia. (COMIC: Cold Blooded War!) However, as the Galactic Federation era continued, the colonies developed their own rules and laws, which led to a lack of purpose for the Adjudicators. They were replaced in the Federation by the Arbiters. (PROSE: The Dark Path) The Adjudicators evolved into the Knights of the Grand Order of Oberon, a group of secretive assassins. (PROSE: Lucifer Rising)

Behind the scenes

 * While publishing its Doctor Who series the New Adventures, Virgin Books acquired the rights for a line of novels based on the long-running Judge Dredd comic. Before the release of the first of these novels – Deathmasques by Dave Stone, published July 1993 – they intended to feature some elements of the Dredd series in the New Adventures novel Lucifer Rising, released May 1993, as a "backdoor pilot" to the Judge Dredd series. However, when the plans to a crossover fell through, Judge Dredd was replaced by a new, differently characterised character called "the Adjudicator". The Guild of Adjudicators stood in for the Justice Department of street judges throughout the remainder of Virgin's Doctor Who novels, most clearly in Dave Stone's Burning Heart.