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From Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum
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The '''Lex Imperialis''', also called the '''Dictates Imperialis''', is the legal code of the [[Imperium]]. Claimed to be the word of the [[Emperor]] himself, it is a vast body of laws and codes compiled over ten thousand years that [[Judge]]s of the [[Adeptus Arbites]] spend their entire lives studying and compiling in the [[Book of Judgement]]. Though each world of the Imperium has its own unique set of rules, the Lex Imperialis is the definitive and absolute word, ruling above all others. The Lex Imperialis is ruthlessly enforced by the Adeptus Arbites.{{Fn|1}}
The principal laws of the Lex Imperialis are known as the [[Injuncta Cardinal]]. All Arbitrators can recite it by heart and it is often found emblazoned across their Precinct Fortresses.{{Fn|4}} While the Dicatates Imperialis are extensive, the huge volume of prior cases and sometimes contradictory rulings can make it difficult to determine the correct decision. In especially complex cases, it may take centuries to reach an outcome. A [[Judge]] may spend his entire life deliberating, scrutinizing, and trying to fathom out the issues, only to pass his work on, unfinished, for others to continue. Millennia later, though the accused are long dead, a ruling is finally made and justice must be meted out upon the distant descendants and those obscurely associated with the original transgressor.{{Fn|2}}
It is required by Imperial Law that all [[psyker]]s must undergo the [[Adeptus Astra Telepathica]]'s testing and [[Sanctioned Psyker|sanctioning]] process. Those that do not submit themselves to be collected by authorities and retrieved by the [[League of Black Ships]], or otherwise evade this process, are labelled [[rogue psyker]]s and considered fugitives.{{Fn|3}}
*{{Endn|2}}: [[Dark Heresy: Book of Judgement]], pg. 9
*{{Endn|3}}: [[Dark Heresy: Ascension]], pg. 48
*{{Endn|4}}: [[Warhammer 40,000: Darktide]], Character Portrait Frame - Proctor
[[Category:Adeptus Arbites]]
[[Category:Imperial Texts]]
