As codified at the command of the Lord
By the angels Dominic and Asmodeus
With Additions by the Seraphim Council
and Appending a Body of Known Precedent
The Word of God is absolute. All Heaven's authority flows from God.
The Word of Judgment was given by God. The holder of the Word of Judgment is empowered to pass judgment on any being in accordance with the Word; its verdicts and sentences are by their nature just.
The post of Commander of the Heavenly Host was given by God. The Commander of the Heavenly Host is empowered to command any member of the Heavenly Host; such commands are to be obeyed.
The Seraphim Council was called by the forces of Heaven in sincere and humble attempt to fulfill the commands of God after the Fall. The Seraphim Council is empowered to make decrees, to add to the laws of Heaven, and to remove and amend those decrees and laws it has made; such decrees and laws are authoritative in all Heaven.
The status of Archangel has been conveyed by God or by the Seraphim Council. Archangels hold authority over their Servitors, Saints, and bodhisattvas; such authority is of any extent they feel necessary.
No being shall be attacked with intent to harm them anywhere within Heaven, save as punishment authoritatively decreed. [3]
Beings accused of a crime have the right to a fair trial.
In non-emergency situations, a warrant should be issued prior to an arrest. The subject of the arrest has the right to ask for confirmation of the arresting triad's identity, and to be brought to Heaven via a Tether of their own Archangel.
Beings convicted of a crime have the right not to be punished out of proportion to their crime.
Decisions of a servitor of Judgment may be appealed to the accused's Archangel. Decisions of any Archangel may be appealed to the holder of the Word of Judgment or to the Seraphim Council, either of which constitutes final consideration.
No Saint, bodhisattva, or other blessed soul, regardless of any other covenant or duty, may be hindered in a desire to ascend to the Higher Heavens.
Damned souls have the right to a last review of their cases by the Angels of Final Justice.
Infinite is the wisdom of God alone. His Word supersedes all other authorities. [4]
The Archangel of Judgment may empower other angels to define crimes, make and investigate accusations of crime, to render verdicts on accusations, and to carry out punishments therefor.
The Commander of the Host, the Seraphim Council, and any Archangel may empower angels similarly with respect to their own areas of authority.
The Archangel of Fire is empowered to carry out punishments for crimes under these laws.
The Archangel of Purity, and any Servitor or former Servitor thereof, is empowered to purify and absolve angels of crimes, and to empower others likewise.
Verdicts, punishments, and absolutions under this article may be tempered by circumstance, according to decision of the Archangel of Judgment and its empowered designees.
It shall be a crime for any angel of Judgment to be biased. A Cherub Attunement is a mitigating circumstance, as may be other conditions, but punishment shall include at a minimum detainment in Heaven and efforts to rid the offending angel of the bias and future chances for this.
It shall be a crime to make a false accusation. Punishment shall at least include proportionate restitution to the falsely accused; further chastisement shall be mitigated if the accusation was believed true.
It shall be a crime for any angel to disobey the Word of God. Punishment shall include either recantation or execution, but may be extended beyond recantation at the behest of the Archangel of Judgment. [5]
It shall be a crime for any angel to act in a way that gains Dissonance or Discord. Punishments for these acts will be set out by each Archangel for their Servitors.
It shall be a crime to act in a way that causes one to become Outcast. An angel who becomes Outcast through its own actions shall promptly report this state to its Archangel. Punishment for self-Outcasting explicitly may include execution.
It shall be a crime to be a demon. The punishment is exile to Hell. Breaking exile shall itself be punishable by corporeal death or other re-exile. Cessation of the state of being a demon is also an acceptable punishment, including either execution or the process of Redemption. Sentence is weightier if the demon is a Fallen angel.
It shall be a crime to consort with or aid a demon or other agent of Hell, or ethereal or agent thereof, in any way, save by explicit command of any Archangel, the Commander of the Host, or the Seraphim Council. The punishment shall at the least be so chosen as to minimize the comfort thus given, and in addition to this, to minimize the future chance of such aid. By amendment of the Seraphim Council, it shall be a defense to prosecution that the accused provided services to such entities in a manner calculated to obtain substantial advantage of Geas for the forces of Heaven.
It shall be a crime to consort with or aid Outcast angels in any way, save by explicit command of any Archangel, the Commander of the Host, or the Seraphim Council. Punishment shall be decided on a case-by-case basis, but in no case shall result in Outcasting or death unless combined with other crimes. The sole exception to the criminal nature of the act shall be when the Outcast appears repentant and seeking reinstatement.
It shall be a crime to interbreed with mortals without explicit permission of an Archangel. Punishment shall be detainment and counseling in Heaven. The offender has the right to have the child and mate cared for to the extent that they do not endanger others.
It shall be a crime to know the Ethereal or Celestial Songs of Fruition at all. Punishment shall constitute stripping the knowledge from the offender.
It shall be a crime to commit any of the Seven Deadly Sins: pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed, or sloth. Punishment shall be decided on a case-by-case basis.
It shall be a crime for any angel to be willfully blind to the truth, including the effects of any associated crimes on others. Punishment shall include at the minimum detainment until the crime ceases.
It shall be a crime to obstruct Judgment. Punishments for this crime consist in the main of more severe consequences for associated charges.
It shall be a crime to accept any gift, power, Rite, or service from a demon or other agent of Hell, or ethereal or agent thereof, save in a manner calculated to obtain substantial advantage for the forces of Heaven. Punishment shall at least include removal of the gift and any Geas thus afforded, and detainment for counseling until the desire passes. Continuing willful disregard of the consequences of this action is grounds for Force-stripping, possibly to death.
God commanded the angels to refrain from interfering with corporeal affairs. God rescinded this command and replaced it with the command to act subtly when action in corporeal affairs is necessary.
Among other consequences of this law, causing unnecessary harm to come to a living human invites punishment of equivalent soul-damage.
The Commander of the Host may give orders to any angel, Saint, bodhisattva, or Soldier of God, and empower any angel to do the same. It is meet, if the Commander so orders a being in service to an Archangel other than the Commander personally, that justification be provided upon request.
The Archangel of Dreams has the right to be informed of operations taking place in the Marches. Objections made to such operations, if not immediately accepted, will be promptly arbitrated by the Seraphim Council.
No angel shall descend to Hell without explicit permission from their Archangel. An angel otherwise finding itself in Hell shall immediately attempt escape. Failure to comply with this law shall be grounds for detainment in Heaven for as long as deemed necessary by Judgment.
It shall be a crime to desert one's post. Punishment may include but is not limited to detainment, stripping of rank, loss of personal property, infliction of Dissonance or Discord, Outcasting, or execution. [6]
It shall be a crime to act in any way willfully contrary to Heaven's prosecution of the War, constituting treason. Punishment is capital. The charge is prejudiced if the act accused constitutes willful induction of a Fate.
Laws of property, person, arbitration, and other matters shall not be considered to apply to the forces of Hell, given reasonable evidence of the greater crime of acting contrary to Heaven's prosecution of the War.
The Cathedral of any Archangel, and all things within it, are the property of that Archangel. The Eternal City belongs to all Archangels in common. The Seraphim Council may assign to Archangels subsets of the Eternal City as their Cathedral. An Archangel may arrange ownership laws for subsets of that Archangel's Cathedral.
Corporeal things owned under human law by a Servitor or Saint of an Archangel are considered under Heavenly law the property of that Archangel. An Archangel may devolve ownership of a corporeal item voluntarily.
Corporeal things owned under human law by a living Soldier of an Archangel are the property of that Soldier but may be taken by that Archangel or their Servitors for use in the War, under consideration of the restriction on undue interference with humanity, and also in expectation of equable compensation.
Anything made is the property of the maker unless made at the command of an Archangel or the Seraphim Council, in which case those entities own the item.
Essence is the property of its holder, or the owner of the generating reliquary.
Ownership of anything may be transferred by its owner by agreement uttered in the angelic tongue, or sworn by Malakite oath, or codified in Divine Contract.
It shall be a crime to prevent an owner from using an item they own, whether through taking or destruction. Punishment shall at the least include equivalent restitution to the extent possible, and detainment for some period. Considerations of one's Word or mission may mitigate this.
Have any two beings a dispute of any kind, they may bring the matter to an angel of Judgment, who may listen and render a resolution or refer the matter to a more conveniently available angel of Judgment. Angels of Trade are additionally empowered to arbitrate disputes of ownership in particular. Appeals of such decisions may be made via the Celestial Tribunal.
Has any angel a matter of conscience that requires external resolution, that angel may seek an angel of Judgment, confess the matter, and accept verdict and sentence or absolution. The judging angel is obliged to consider the fact that confession was made voluntarily.
If an angel of Judgment becomes aware of a matter and declares it of interest to Judgment, any member of the Forces of Heaven shall assist in bringing the matter to resolution in any way that does not compromise their current mission or standing orders.
Failure to comply with decisions rendered under these laws constitutes obstruction of Judgment.
Ethereals shall not visit the Corporeal Plane, nor communicate with its inhabitants corporeally or in dreams, nor seek property, deeds, Essence, or souls therefrom.
Demons shall remain in Hell to await judgment, or present themselves to an Archangel to attempt Redemption.
Dead mortals not in the celestial realms shall promptly release their hold on mortal existence and ascend to face judgment.
Blessed souls are to be free from all compulsion unless they swear service as a bodhisattva or commit a crime.
The damned are commended to the judgment of God.
Living mortals shall be free of all compulsion under these Laws unless they make knowing covenant with any being nonnative to the corporeal plane, in which case they fall under the laws governing those with whom they have made covenant.
Other orders of being shall be subject to the authority of an Archangel whose Word encompasses them, or to laws enacted by the Seraphim Council.
The known Word of God is, today, anything that is written in Yves' library with the hand of the Metatron on it; *some* parts of the Bible and the Qur'an (but, frustratingly, no one knows exactly which); and anything that someone in Heaven can truthfully say they recall God or the Metatron saying. Things God says typically tend to remain untarnished even in non-eidetic memories, and include God's pardon of Michael, His recall of Uriel, His choices of Commander of the Host, various ancient Wordings and Archangel raisings, His pronouncements surrounding the Eden experiment, His explanation to Blandine of how to Redeem demons, His orders during the process of creating the Earth... and some suspect that Yves and Gabriel occasionally speak with the backing of God, but again no one knows quite how often this occurs. An angel who says truthfully that they believed a particular experience was God will be thoroughly questioned, but thereafter given much leeway.
Heresy has included such acts as: believing or promoting the 'Ethereal Yahweh' theory; sending an unstable but Redeemed ex-demon back to Hell for being 'unworthy'; monolatry (the belief that only one god is omnipotent, though others exist); and possibly Gabriel misrepresenting the Qu'ran.
Obstructing Judgment has included such acts as: remaining silent, lying to investigators, resisting arrest, and attempting to escape arrest.
God has explicitly intervened to pardon Archangel Michael for Pride after he was found guilty. Angels of Judgment are exhorted to recall this circumstance when judging the Deadly Sins.
The trial of Archangel Gabriel for heresy began and was interrupted before verdict; the charges were revoked at the request of Yves.
Archangel Eli has been charged with desertion of his post and is commanded by the Archangel of Judgment to appear in Heaven for trial. It is meet that the Archangel of Judgment himself serve summons; angels of Judgment are under standing order to seek conditions to allow this to occur.
As the Purity Crusade proceeded, trial was being prepared for Achangel Uriel on charges of unnecessarily harming humans, specifically their capacity to dream and reap fruits therefrom; but God called Uriel to the Higher Heavens before a trial began.
When two beings own an object in common, such as a maker and the Archangel of a Cathedral, and a dispute arises over use, the main body of precedent has held for the higher ranking being, with equable compensation occasionally ordered. If both beings are of equal rank, the use of apparently greater significance to the War is usually chosen and equable compensation frequently ordered.
The entire Choir of the Grigori was Outcast indefinitely.
The Seraphim Council has decreed that the Hindu, Voodoun, and Dreamtime ethereals are under indefinite suspension of the ban on Ethereal action on Earth. It shall be noted that the ban on trafficking with such ethereals is still in effect; only prosecution has been suspended.
1. This section describes the theoretical basis for the legal authority of the basic entities of Heaven's legal system: the Archangel of Judgment, the Commander of the Heavenly Host, the Seraphim Council, and the Archangels.[Return]
2. This section describes the fundamental rights available to beings under Heaven's legal system.[Return]
3. This is the basis for the Pax Dei.[Return]
4. Dominic considers this, and not any appeal to the Seraphim Council (which may be read as nonexistent, and is in any case extremely unlikely to succeed) as the check on his own power.[Return]
5. This was the accusation against Gabriel, whom God supposedly commanded to provide the Koran in a particular way based on Yves' version. It is also the basis for the definition of heresy in Dominic's Dissonance Condition: heresy is any belief that goes against the known or demonstrated Word of God.[Return]
6. This, an aspect of Sloth, is the basic charge against Eli (though other sins of the flesh are widely suspected) and was also the crime of the Grigori.[Return]