History Main / JudgeJuryAndExecutioner

* ''VideoGame/MegaManZero3'' gives us the Eight Gentle Judges, who rule [[TheEmpire Neo Arcadia]] alongside X (both the [[VideoGame/MegaManX real one]] and his EvilKnockoff). They were as much [[KnightTemplar Knights Templar]] as the rest of the series' antagonists, until they were turned BrainwashedAndCrazy by [[BigBad Dr. Weil]] to become his QuirkyMinibossSquad. Glacier le Cactank, in particular, provides us with this quote:

** The Maverick Hunters of the [[VideoGame/MegaManX previous series]] were forced into this trope more often than not due to both extreme circumstances and the complete unwillingness of their targets to cooperate. Needless to say [[MartialPacifist X]] was very unhappy about this fact.

Perhaps this is why so many societies, particularly those with [[{{Dystopia}} dystopian]] or [[TheEmpire evil]] leanings, go for the alternative: empowering a group of official agents with near-limitless authority to detain, sentence and punish offenders.

Of course there is a very good reason we don't have this type of law enforcement in civilization; If the Judges see themselves as noble and pure then they will most likely be [[KnightTemplar Knight Templars]], if they are insane they would often see [[AllCrimesAreEqual all crimes are punishable by death]], if they become corrupt then not only would they become [[DirtyCop Dirty Cops]] but would in turn become a JokerJury and a HangingJudge all in one go, and that's all assuming they don't [[ItsPersonal have a grudge against you]].

* In ''ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsBatman'', Red Hood's run as an Anti-Villain is this, with him killing criminals left and right without any remorse. Unnervingly, half of Gotham citizens support his view, considering that their city is a Wretched Hive filled with the criminally insane. Thanks to this, the cartel sent the Flamingo to deal with him.

---> "It's enough that they were responsible for the deaths of [[ItsPersonal two human beings]]...[[BestServedCold I determined]] that I should be their judge, jury, and executioner all rolled into one."

*** YMMV on this aspect, as the criteria is left ambiguous, save that the judge of the trial is the defendant's own conscience. While Rimmer and Cat are acquitted, Rimmer is acquitted because he successfully argues that, given his HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood, he actually did very well for himself; and the Cat is acquitted because, shallow as he is, compared to his people's values he may well be a cultural paragon. On the other hand, Lister adamantly refused to make any arguments in his favor and Kryten actively argued against his acquittal in order to probe the Inquisitor's motives.

*** YMMV on this aspect, as the criteria is left ambiguous, save that the judge of the trial is the defendant's own conscience. While Rimmer and Cat are acquitted, Rimmer is acquitted because of a complete dearth of any talents, ability or mentoring, and the Cat is acquitted because, shallow as he is, compared to his people's values he may well be a cultural paragon. On the other hand, Lister adamantly refused to make any arguments in his favor and Kryten actively argued against his acquittal in order to probe the Inquisitor's motives.

* ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'': [[VigilanteMan Jefferson]] [[CrusadingWidower Hope]] in ''A Study in Scarlet'' actually describes himself using these words.

* In ''LightNovel/InfiniteGacha'', it's justified. The protagonist Light is frequently either at the scene or attacked by a non-human race supremacist group engaged in hate crimes against human "inferiors" just for laughs, since the vast, vast majority of humans can't fight back, at least not effectively. Even if Light could somehow capture them and deliver them to a human court, the human prisons can't hold them, and the humans can't get justice under their own power. The native races the criminals come from also make it public policy that the hate crimes ''are not seen as crimes at all''. As such, Light has no choice but to judge them himself, and the consequences are always brutal and graphic.

* ''Webcomic/ErrantStory'': the ''less'' extreme members of the elven Peregin force (which is to say, Sarine) are this way toward half elves. Most Peregins, however, don't bother with nuances of guilt or innocence as far as half elves are concerned, and just KillEmAll.

* ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' is a satire of zero-tolerance policing, exemplified by the main character's CatchPhrase: [[IAmTheTrope "I am The Law!"]]. Judge Dredd and his colleagues are licensed to execute criminals on the spot, though he prefers jailing them as long as they don't resist arrest. Their power of judgment is NOT absolute, since they are still bound by legal standards such as "beyond reasonable doubt" (that is, they can't simply shoot someone whom they ''suspect'' of having committed a crime, even one as serious as murder; they still have to provide evidence)[[note]] In ''Film/{{Dredd}}'', Dredd comments that "99% sure" someone is guilty of murder is not enough, they must be 100% sure before they execute a criminal on the spot.[[/note]] and the [[InternalAffairs Special Judicial Squad]] is supposed to rein in particularly abusive authority within the Justice Department.

** In contrast, [[SingleTargetLaw attainder laws]] are explicitly banned in US Constitution for two reasons: they violate a person's due process by punishing them without a trial and turn Congress into a KangarooCourt. They are also banned at the state level as well.

** In contrast, attainder laws are explicitly banned by Article I, Section 9 of the US Constitution for two reasons: they violate a person's civil liberties and due process, and allow Congress to perform judicial functions.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'', Jon is stopped by a CorruptHick for driving faster than the posted limit of 8 mph (incidentally obscured by overgrowth.) The selfsame sheriff that arrests him proceeds to prosecute him, defend him, judge him, and act as several different members of the jury.

** Superman once did this in ''ComicBook/TheSupergirlSaga'' when dealing with three Kryptonian criminals who had already killed every other person on the planet. There was no way to turn them into the authorities since they had already killed the authorities (and everyone else). This eventually caused Supes a mental breakdown.

* ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' is a satire of zero-tolerance policing, exemplified by the main character's CatchPhrase: [[IAmTheTrope "I am The Law!"]]. Judge Dredd and his colleagues are licensed to execute criminals on the spot, though he prefers jailing them as long as they don't resist arrest. Their power of judgment is NOT absolute, since they are still bound by legal standards such as "beyond reasonable doubt" (that is, they can't simply shoot someone whom they ''suspect'' of having committed a crime, even one as serious as murder; they still have to provide evidence)[[note]] In ''Film/{{Dredd}}'', Dredd comments that "99% sure" someone is guilty of murder is not enough, they must be 100% sure before they execute a criminal on the spot.[[/note]] and the [[InternalAffairs Special Judicial Squad]] is supposed to rein in particularly abusive authority within the Justice Department.\\
\\
The origins of the Justice system that Dredd operates in are explored in, appropriately, ''Origins''. Eustace Fargo, the first Chief Judge and [[TrulySingleParent Dredd's clone father]], pioneered a radical approach of 'instant justice' when crime and urban decay in the United States became intolerable by the mid-21st century. After WorldWarIII, they deposed the PresidentEvil who started the war, establishing a literal PoliceState in [[FallenStatesOfAmerica what remained of the country]]. Other areas of the world are shown to have established similarly brutal systems of policing and government. And their ''worse'' counterparts on [[MirrorUniverse Deadworld]] [[OmnicidalManiac skip the judge and jury parts of the shtick entirely]].

The origins of the Justice system that Dredd operates in are explored in, appropriately, ''Origins''. Eustace Fargo, the first Chief Judge and [[TrulySingleParent Dredd's clone father]], pioneered a radical approach of 'instant justice' when crime and urban decay in the United States became intolerable by the mid-21st century. After WorldWarIII, they deposed the PresidentEvil who started the war, establishing a literal PoliceState in [[FallenStatesOfAmerica what remained of the country]]. Other areas of the world are shown to have established similarly brutal systems of policing and government. And their evil counterparts on [[AlternateUniverse Deadworld]] [[KillEmAll skip the judge and jury parts of the shtick entirely]].

-->-- ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom''

* [[TyrantTakesTheHelm Dolores Umbridge]] enjoys this role in her ''Literature/HarryPotter'' appearances. This goes UpToEleven in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'', during which she accuses Muggle-born witches and wizards of "stealing" magic from true mages (which is a load of crap, as anyone who knows [[MagicAIsMagicA the rules of magic]] can attest) and then feeds them to [[TheDreaded Dementors]].

* Walker the ghost warden in ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' is judge, jury, and executioner -and ''really'' likes the executioner part.

* [[spoiler: Two-Face]] becomes one of these under the guise of the Judge, in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''. He tries to execute several super-villains [[spoiler: including himself]], as a result of [[spoiler: a third personality developing because of Harvey's former sense of justice, despising that he had become Two-Face]]. It ends with [[spoiler: Two-Face sitting in a cell, and his third voice demanding what he pleads]]. "[[MadnessMantra Guilty.. Guilty.. Guilty..]]"

* Walker the ghost warden in ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' provides a quote at the top.

--->"[[AC:THERE IS NO JUSTICE. THERE IS ONLY ME.]]"

** Death often refers to something in this direction ("[[AC:THERE IS NO JUSTICE. THERE IS ONLY ME.]]"), although he strictly upholds the "law" of only "taking lives" and not ending them, thus being an aversion. He has also, over the course of his books, become quite compassionate. [[AC:"WHAT CAN THE HARVEST HOPE FOR IF NOT THE CARE OF THE REAPER MAN?"]]

* [[VigilanteMan Jefferson]] [[CrusadingWidower Hope]] in ''[[Literature/SherlockHolmes A Study in Scarlet]]'' actually describes himself using these words.
** "It's enough that they were responsible for the deaths of [[ItsPersonal two human beings]]...[[BestServedCold I determined]] that I should be their judge, jury, and executioner all rolled into one."

* Slyly parodied in ''Literature/ThePhantomTollbooth'': Officer Shrift (who is [[PunnyName very short]]) arrests Milo, then prepares to try him. When Milo protests that 'only a judge can sentence you', Shrift agrees and slips into judicial robes on the spot. As he's leading Milo away to serve his six million year sentence, Milo informs him that 'only a jailer can put you in prison'. Again, the officer agrees, pulls out a bunch of keys, and leads Milo triumphantly away.
** Fortunately, it soon turns out he doesn't care about ''keeping'' people in prison.

* 71-Hour Ahmed from the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' book ''Literature/{{Jingo}}''. While Vimes criticizes his methods (he earned his nickname violating SacredHospitality in pursuit of a mass murderer and kidnapped a member of the Watch to draw Vimes' attention to the true perpetrators of the case at hand), Ahmed mentions to Vimes that their situations are different. His beat is a city that you can walk in half an hour; Ahmed's beat contains two million square miles of desert and mountain where he is alone against bandits and murderers and thus must inspire dread by striking fast once since he won't get a second chance. Vimes eventually relents that the two of them simply has different views on how justice should be served.
** Death often refers to something in this direction ("THERE IS NO JUSTICE. THERE IS ONLY ME."), although he strictly upholds the "law" of only "taking lives" and not ending them, thus being an aversion. He has also, over the course of his books, become quite compassionate. "WHAT CAN THE HARVEST HOPE FOR IF NOT THE CARE OF THE REAPER MAN?"

Needless to say [[KangarooCourt you are probably not getting a fair trial]].

When a private citizen acts as Judge, Jury, and Executioner without official sanction, he's a VigilanteMan. When it's an actual judge who's also jury and executioner, it's usually an example of HangingJudge.

Of course there is a very good reason we don't have this type of law enforcement in civilization; If the Judges see themselves as noble and pure then they will most likely be [[KnightTemplar Knight Templars]], if they are insane they would often see [[AllCrimesAreEqual all crimes are punishable by death]], if they become corrupt then not only would they become [[DirtyCop Dirty Cops]] but would in turn become a JokerJury and a HangingJudge all in one go, and that's all assuming they don't [[ItsPersonal have a grudge on you]].

--->'''Katara:''' Community service! ''Please'' stop on community service!

'''Walker:''' [[HangingJudge I like that part of the job.]]