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Is it illegal to be a Sith Lord?

Discussion in 'Star Wars Saga In-Depth' started by IliveinHoth, Jul 27, 2005.

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  1. soldbyjohnny

    soldbyjohnny Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Jan 10, 2005
    the jedi are just jealous because the sith are smarter than they are and more powerfull.. They only need two guys to the jedi's thousands..all with thier heads in the clouds instead of focusing on whats going on...

    so of course from their point of view the sith are bad... not very tolorant , they could learn from them instead of killing them..

    the jedi destroy innocent civillians and soldiers doing their jobs as well, in the course of acheiving their goals..

    it just depends on who you agree with...
     
  2. SaberGiiett7

    SaberGiiett7 Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 2, 2002
    It's illegal under U.N. law to be a "terrorist." Under the same reasoning it would not be intolerant for the Republic to brand Sith Lords as criminals because of the havoc they wrecked when their numbers were strong. :)

    <[-]> Saber
     
  3. DARTHMORDOR

    DARTHMORDOR Jedi Padawan star 4

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    Jun 17, 2003
    my thought on this is yes. it is illegal to be a sith. the jedi are the protectors of the republic. the sith once ruled the galexy with an iron will. "oppression of the sith" as mace says in ROTS. so if the jedi are for all intents and purposes the police, (keepers of the peace) then it is safe to say there is mostlikly a law of some kind forbidding the practice of the sith teachings. does the general public even know of such things does not matter. its just an old forgotten law. but it is the jedis' duty among others to prevent the sith from coming to power again.
     
  4. Grievous21

    Grievous21 Jedi Youngling star 1

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    Jun 26, 2005
    I think it is. The police(jedi) are the sworn enemies of the sith and even if its not illegal, sith do illegal things.
     
  5. mandragora

    mandragora Jedi Master star 4

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    May 28, 2005
    Of course it's NOT illegal to be a Sith Lord. The terrorist analogy doesn't apply because the Sith are believed to have been extinct for a millenium. Plus, even for a terrorist you need evidence, and not mere conjectures, to arrest him. And in the novel it is mentioned that in the Republic's constitution prosecutions for religious and philosophical reasons are forbidden.

    People cannot be arrested on the mere ground of their religion. And in any reasonable constitutional state people cannot be arrested, let alone killed by an executive body without sound evidence, sound enough to justify a warrant of arrest. People cannot be arrested due to mere suspicion without evidence. And the evidence has to be there at the time of arresting, or any more severe action, for that matter. It's not enough to present the evidence later on. Sorry, Jedi admirers, but this action of arresting and trying to assassinate the supreme chancellor of the republic, without any evidence for illegal action, for the sole reason that he's told Anakin he is a Sith Lord, is simply an act of treason, and nothing else.
     
  6. TK--421

    TK--421 Jedi Grand Master star 2

    Registered:
    Jun 30, 2002
    Wouldn't it stand to reason that it is illegal to be a Sith Lord since the penalty is death?

    The Jedi aren't the police force for the state, but they do have overriding jurisdictional authority in all matters, at least as evidenced by the EU where Jedi were able to freely get involved and take over police investigations.

    Maul and Tyranus were killed without any overriding investigation by the Republic. I believe that means that they yielded to the Jedi in their authority on such matters.
     
  7. jeromew

    jeromew Jedi Youngling

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    Jul 13, 2005
    Yes. It's illegal.

    The sith are the eternal enemies of the jedi. If you look at EU sources, it would be clear to most people in their world that the sith have caused tons of destruction. Even without EU, we know sith are enemies and jedi have a special place within the republic. In many ways its an official religion.
     
  8. WLDB

    WLDB Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 11, 2004
    Well they were supposed to take Dooku alive and Maul was killed in a fight. It wasnt an execution.

    I dont think it is legal. But I think it should be. People should not be arrested or killed for their religious beleifs IF they are not hurting anyone. We know the Sith are very violent, now if it is the Sith ideology which makes them violent then make it illegal.
     
  9. mandragora

    mandragora Jedi Master star 4

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    May 28, 2005
    *LOL* ... jurisdictional and executive powers assigned to one and the same authority. Impossible thing in a constitutional state. Hopefully there aren't any political scientists among the EU writers...

    It isn't illegal "to be a terrorist" as long as you don't commit any crimes. You can run around calling yourself a terrorist for as long as you like, in a real constitutional state you won't be arrested unless you undertake terrorist action, action for which there is evidence, of course.
     
  10. TK--421

    TK--421 Jedi Grand Master star 2

    Registered:
    Jun 30, 2002
    The relationship has never been fully defined of course, but we know that the Jedi have been part of the Republic almost since its inception. The "Guardians of Peace and Justice in the Old Republic" for over a thousand generations. Since the Jedi believe the Sith are evil, they probably have told the Republic that if they discover a Sith, that they fall under Jedi oversight, and are not subject to the rules of the Republic.

    Being a terrorist and being a Sith are quite different things in the Star Wars universe, but only because the Jedi have a unique position in the Republic that isn't comparable to any real world counterpart. This position is what gives them these hybrid "make and enforce rules" powers, though they are ultimately answerable to the Senate as Obi-Wan mentions in ROTS. However, if the Jedi mention Sith the Senate probably nods and assumes that the Jedi know what they're doing because of the millenia of working together that has existed between the Republic and the Jedi.

    I guess if there was ever a point where the Senate didn't trust the Jedi anymore, they could tell them "We forbid you from persecuting the Sith unless they commit an actual crime", but that never happened of course.
     
  11. jeromew

    jeromew Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Jul 13, 2005
    First of all, I wouldn't try to draw similarities between the Star Wars world and our world. Unless you have some EU sources that focused on republic criminal laws, I'm not buying it. The Jedi are pretty much a quasi-official religion. They obviously have special leeway to do stuff with their enemies. If you are going to compare it to our world, then imagine a place where there are special religious warriors at the heart of the government. I doubt they would have tolerant beliefs.
     
  12. mandragora

    mandragora Jedi Master star 4

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    May 28, 2005
    Jeronew: I don't read EU stuff apart from the movie novels.
    It is stated in the ROTS novel that prosecution on the grounds of religious beliefs is forbidden in the constitution. It's right there where the arresting scene is.

    My point isn't that the Republic is alike the real states. My point is that the Republic, if it is supposed to be a constitutional democracy (and that it's supposed to be a democracy is clear, that it is constitutional is stated in the novel) is institutionally flawed. In a constitutional democracy the principle of separation of legislative, jurisdictional and executive power applies, as does the principle of control of the executive authority by a democratically elected body. Neither seems to hold for the Republic. The Jedi have major executive powers and are not controlled by a democratically elected body, and if this EU stuff mentioned above is true then the separation of jurisdictional and executive powers doesn't hold either. Therefore, from a mere political science point of view, it is a dangerous construction institutionally.
     
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