Street Judges act as police, judge, jury, and executioner. Capital punishment is rarely used, though deaths while resisting arrest are commonplace. Numerous writers have used the Judge System to satirize contemporary politics.

Judges, once appointed, can be broadly characterised as "Street Judges" (who patrol the Sector), and administrative, or office-based judges. The incorruptibility of the Judges is supposedly maintained by the Special Judicial Squad, although SJS judges have themselves broken the law on occasion. This 'Judge System' has spread world-wide, with various super-cities possessing similar methods of law enforcement. As such this political model has become the most common form of government on New Eden, with only a few small areas practicing civilian rule. There is therefore an international "Judicial Charter" which countries and city states join upon instituting a Judge System