Nobles in My Traveller Universe

[Hal]

Hello Folks,
For those who like to hammer things out for your own traveller universe, and like discussing things with others who are unhappy with how any game version of Traveller treats the concept of Imperial Nobles - feel free to chime in here. Thread drift is EXPECTED, as this thread's intent is to be open and inviting people to discuss their thoughts without having to worry about whether or not it fits approved thought or not. Truth is, sometimes you have a discussion that wanders a little, and someone says something inspirational to you that you take off on it and feel that they contributed greatly to the finished product you're trying to build.

That said...

In my traveller Unverse, I've always had an issue with Nobles being relatively powerless, and GURPS NOBLES made that sense of dissatisfaction even worse by having watered down nobility whose only purpose was to hold an office and be granted what amounts to a courtesy Title to hold that office. *sigh*

T5 made a point of finally attempting to detail fiefs, something I whole heartedly approve of, but the nature of the "income" for nobility made me think "Huh?" Eventaully, I went with this avenue of thought:

Fiefs are lands granted by the host world to the Imperial Capital World by treaty upon their entrance into the Imperium. As such, they are in theory, accorded the same rights and privileges as an embassy in that the soil is technically that of the capital world. People born in these "enclaves" are technically Imperial Citizens - subject to the same laws of the Capital World. They can not be held against their will by any "member world" government, nor can they be taxed or judged by any entity save the legal representative of said Captial World. As a consequence of this, Nobles whose lands are Fiefs, are entitled as Emperor's personal representatives of the Irridium Throne, can often times find themselves administering to the legalities of their "fief" much as a knight of medieval times might do - save for one thing. Only the RANKING noble on that world has the sole responsibility/right to administer justice. He can delegate that responsibility to a lesser ranking noble (such as a baron for instance), but it is understood that the Duke can take back those delegated responsibilities at will.

Next comes the issue of wealth and reason for being when it comes to nobles. They're supposed to be his eyes and ears and step in at times of crisis. Without authority, but having responsibilities, how long would it take before the (those who are called Imperial Nobles) begin to say "Hey, what is in it for me?" and say "Screw it"?

Then comes the issue of power: those who have it, often want to keep it. Those who lust for power, often seek to get more of it. Whether they do it by laws, or they do it in a naked power grab, the power brokers ultimately do what they do best - grab more power. The only thing to keep them in check is tradition, and morals instilled in them through time. But over time, it doesn't take much to corrupt that which made a nation strong, and turn it into a nation where self-interest trumps "morality" or ethics.

So - my nobles have power - the act as liaison between the member worlds and the Imperium. They say what is or is not acceptable. They offer inside information (for a price) to those whom they favor, and eventually cause those they don't favor, to suffer. They succeed at times, and fail others. Wealth being a means for controlling power, and for getting power - those imperial nobles have to have some base of operations to do what they do.

More later...

 

[mike wightman]

Nobles are tax collectors for the Imperium.

 

[kilemall]

Nobles are tax collectors for the Imperium.

Maybe in yours. Maybe in OTU. Maybe not in his. Let's wait and see.

 

[welsh]

Nobles are tax collectors for the Imperium.

They are in my mind ... or at least, they are responsible for running the civil service apparatus that, among other things, collects taxes.

Fiefs are granted out of Imperial lands. (Just what I mean by that could be a whole nother discussion; suffice to say the Imperium is actually the largest landowner in the Imperium.) They may take the form of estates or they may simply be exploited for resources; they may be leased out and not even managed by the noble who owns them. They are fully subject to local laws (as are Imperial lands) except where specifically designated as extraterritorial.

I don't have any concept of Imperial "citizenship." Either you are a noble, or you are a subject. Nobles and members of noble families are not subject to local (world) laws; as representatives of the Imperium they enjoy "Imperial privilege" which amounts to diplomatic immunity (and has similar limitations).

What's in it for nobles? Wealth, influence, and power. The Emperor has absolute power and he keeps his nobles happy by delegating it; this is a society not of laws but of men. The purpose of the Imperium is to facilitate profit-taking by megacorporations, in which the nobility is heavily invested.

I see nobles as social climbers who split their time between Capital and the various sector and domain capitals. It is not a meritocracy (although canon tends to present it as such), but rather a brown-nosertocracy.

My models are the British Empire at its height, where influential men are appointed governors of various colonies, and those Dostoevsky novels full of gentlemen working in the civil service, collecting medals and counting their rubles. But my nobles have real power because for all intents and purposes, they are the law.

That's mine. Not too dissimilar to the OP I think.

 

[Hal]

Hello Gentlemen (and Ladies who should possibly join in on this!)

Why I evolved a concept of "Citizens" and "Subjects" is precisely what was alluded to in the "Subject to local laws" aspect mentioned above. Can a world refuse a Noble an exit visa to leave on Emperor business? Now, unless all member worlds agree that all noble born individuals have "Diplomatic Immunity", there are going to be legal issues involved where it comes to those who are of one class and those who are not of that one class but may fall in others.

For instance, you have a noble who owns an area (what the size of that area is immaterial for purposes of this discussion for now). If the proposition is that the fief is NOT subject to the local planet's laws, but are enclaves belonging to the Irridium throne, and by inference, to the noble that the Emperor saw fit to hand down to as a fief - then those fiefs (regardless of how they are parceled out) have what amounts to an extrality line.

What specificially is the status of a child born within such a region (be it a starport or a fief)?

Now for the kicker in my eyes...

If you are a native of world A1 (just to give it an algebraic value) where speaking ones mind and saying that a religion is hogwash can result in the death penalty, whereas on world A2 (Just one parsec distant from A1) there is no such law - can it be said that a person born on A1 is a "Citizen of the Imperium" when a citizen on world A2 is not subject to the same laws? Depriving a Citizen's life on world A1 but not on A2 means that the laws do not apply equally between "Jurisdictions" (or worlds) within the Imperium.

This is what I allude to when I suggest that writers who write "Theory" on how their worlds operate - do not take the time to parse out the implications.

There are instances for example, where a government might tax any of its citizens a emigration tax that effectively removes 90% of the person's chattel (including money) before said individual can leave. There are also nations where death can be inflicted on individuals at the whim of the ruling class of individuals (whether we're talking about warlord style societies or dictatorships etc). How can you claim that citizens of multiple "nations" (Substitute worlds for nations in Traveller) are true citizens when one nation can treat them one way, and another nation can treat them far worse than the first world, and then claim that both are citizens of an overarching government (Federalized such as the United States government whose authority can exceed that of local state governments in an overarching fashion or the European Union with its overarching authority with limitations over member governments).

In the end, certain "adventures" written in the Classic Traveller adventure products imply that there are a two tiered level of "citizenship" within the Imperium. A captain who lives his life aboard his ship and never stays in one location for very long. What is HIS status? Is he a citizen of his birth world FOREVER subject to its laws? If his ship is registered out of the port of Lunion and his birthworld was that of Adibicci - which laws take precedence aboard his ship as relates to himself? Does he pay an income tax to the government of Adibicci, is subject to laws of censorship that forbids him to talk ill of government officials on pain of death whereas Lunion's laws do not permit a man to be censored in that fashion and do not permit a man to be executed for criticizing the government or any government?

In all, the implications inherent in "all local laws" means that you can literally have your character put to death because he blasphemed while on a world with a religious dictator. He has no protections, and he has no chance of appeal. <shrug> Does that sound like an Imperial Citizen's rights to you? Or does that sound more like an Imperial Subject?

For some, it won't matter, for me, it matters.

 

[Hal]

Nobles are tax collectors for the Imperium.

That does beg a question - when you have a world with three nobles listed (such as T5). What are the responsibilities of those three individuals (especially if one is only a knight)?

It isn't spelled out, which leaves it in the "In your traveller universe, you decide how it applies" territory.

But you're right - someone has to collect the taxes. Question is? How much are member worlds taxed? What is done with those taxes? Yes, they fund the armed forces, and have to pay for the cost of administering to the neighborhood of the Imperium - but how much?

For me, worlds come under four basic headings:

Moot Member Worlds: these are essentially "Home worlds" for their population with the rights and obligations of member worlds of the Imperium. They have at least a Baron to represent them in the Moot.

Chartered Worlds: these are worlds that fall under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Colonization. They are seeds for worlds who eventually, given time, will become members of the first category. Their charter is for an unlimited duration unless revoked for reason (such as slavery, aiding and abetting piracy, etc)

Limited Charter worlds: these are worlds whose occupants do not intend for this world to join the membership of the moot. They are in general, resource harvesting organizations or corporations. They have exclusive rights to the world, and can set up their population's "governing principles" as they see fit. They pay a fee on an annual basis to the Imperial Government.

Claimed worlds: these are worlds that are within the Imperial borders, but are largely unoccupied. The Ministry of Resources generally holds domain over such worlds, but the Ministry of Colonization may also have some impact on the status of such a world.

In all, this is a work in progress such that my goal is to try and determine "what happens if..." kind of thing. For example? YOu have a colony of 5,000 people who set foot on a world, and want a democracy for their government. If another group were to settle on that same world with say, 6,000 people, does that world government become balkanized? Do the original settlers have sole rights to the entire world when they first settled the world? Can the new influx of settlers change the government type to a Monarchy because they are more numerous than the original settlers? Can the original settlers go to war with the new settlers claiming that the second group are claim jumpers? If the original settlers were from world A1 and the second set are from A2, can the two main worlds who produced the settler groups A1 and A2 go to war for acts of war committed by group A1 to group A2 on the colony world? Can the attempted settlement from group A2 on the colony world be deemed an act of war by the main world that produced the A2 settlement group?

On and on the questions rise. WHO or WHAT determines what is deemed what and who controls the whole thing?

The whole idea of roleplaying and world building is an exercise of "what if this were real, how would the character reaction as well as how would society expand to meet the new conditions." This is where I think the Third Imperium background is deficient in - hence my attempt to define it for my traveller Universe.

As I mentioned earlier, any ideas presented in this thread may end up being grabbed by myself and implemented in my campaign universe. Often times, it is a group mentality that drives how society shall be implemented. Likewise, you may come up with questions I haven't even considered, or show an issue I failed to contemplate.

For instance, if not born a native of the Imperium, how does one become an Imperial Citizen? Can the Emperor grant citizenship (much as Romans granted citizenship to a member of the legion after his term of 20 plus years of service expired) to a member of the armed service? Not something ever alluded to in the campaign - but for the fact that some members of the armed services would settle down on worlds they ended at when they voluntarily separated from service (or were pink-slipped by their respective services). Is that Immigration to the new world's government and emigration from their old government? Or is that the act of a citizen of the Imperium exercising their rights and privileges as a citizen? What are the rights of a citizen? What are the privileges of a citizen? What are the rights of a subject? What are a subject's privileges?

 

[welsh]

If you are a native of world A1 (just to give it an algebraic value) where speaking ones mind and saying that a religion is hogwash can result in the death penalty, whereas on world A2 (Just one parsec distant from A1) there is no such law - can it be said that a person born on A1 is a "Citizen of the Imperium" when a citizen on world A2 is not subject to the same laws?

We are agreed, although I come to it from a different angle. Given that "citizen" implies rights and privileges, I ask, what are the rights and privileges of the people we loosely call "citizens of the Imperium?"

There are none. Ordinary people have no political rights with respect to the Imperium itself, and are guaranteed none with respect to the laws of various worlds, as you point out. Indeed, through the rules of war and the conventions of tradewar, the Imperium tacitly acknowledges that ordinary people have no protections at all, beyond the Imperium's loose ban on chattel slavery.

Ergo, these are not citizens. Nobles on the other hand have political rights (canonically), so we can view them as citizens.

What specificially is the status of a child born within such a region (be it a starport or a fief)?

To me, the Imperium does not recognize the concept of citizenship as we understand it. As long as are within Imperial borders, you are an Imperial subject, unless you have some foreign diplomatic status. If you are born in District 268 and arrive at Mertactor, you don't have to go through any Imperial immigration process. The Imperium issues no passports. Questions of immigration and citizenship are left up to worlds, according to their laws. People born on ships or in starports can end up in a legal limbo, I suppose.

A captain who lives his life aboard his ship and never stays in one location for very long. What is HIS status? Is he a citizen of his birth world FOREVER subject to its laws?

In my view, the legal powers of worlds don't extend beyond the starport gate -- or, to draw an arbitrary line, 10 diameters. Beyond that we're in Imperial space, unless there is some agreement to the contrary, as might happen in the case of a high tech, high pop world that has colonized other planets in its system. I treat this as a matter of Imperial law: worlds may not make extraterritorial laws.

In theory, worlds can extradite you from anywhere in the Imperium, but in practice the Imperium won't commit any resources to doing this unless that world has clout -- high tech, high pop. Bounty hunting is probably a lucrative business.

How much are member worlds taxed? What is done with those taxes?

Well, apart from funding the armed forces and civil service, they go to keep the Emperor in buttons and bows.

Why does anyone accept such an arrangement? For the usual reasons: it benefits enough people that they support it. Any government must enjoy some level of consensus. So where is the Imperial consensus?

Bearing in mind that the Imperial raison d'etre is to maximize profit-taking in interstellar trade, support will come from those worlds that benefit most, the rich, high pop, high tech worlds. And I suggest that per capita Imperial tax rates are lower on those worlds. It just so happens that these are the only worlds with enough power to dispute arrangements. I don't see worlds themselves having any power, through the moot or otherwise. But those rich, high pop worlds -- let's call them consensus worlds -- enjoy noble favour and so have de facto representation.

Apart from collecting taxes, I see the nobles administering a system of licensing for mineral exploration, etc., which is a major source of revenue. Underlying this is a separation between ownership of resources and government of worlds.

Worlds govern themselves, but do not necessarily own their resources. On consensus worlds, most or all lands are privately owned and most resource rights are also locally owned. But elsewhere, most of the territory of a world is Imperial lands and most of the resources belong to the Imperium itself. If you want to exploit those lands and resources, you pay leases and royalties.

My model for this is Crown land in Canada. Most of Canada's land mass is actually owned by the federal government, because no one lives there. Anyone can cross those lands, hunt on those lands, camp on those lands, and so on. But if you want to log, mine, or build a hunt camp, you will need to pay the federal government for the privilege. I suggest most worlds in the Imperium are similar: their populations are relatively tiny compared to their land mass. Unless the world is important enough to get a better arrangement, the Imperium owns those lands and leases or sells them as required. (See also unpopulated planets and satellites.) You can imagine this keeps the civil service busy.

This arrangement is popular with interstellar corporations for a simple reason. Worlds govern themselves, but their laws do not override Imperial law. World A can raise taxes or extract huge fees from Sternmetal Horizons mining operations, if those operations are on lands owned by Sternmetal. But if those operations are on Imperial lands, World A is handcuffed, because it can't override Imperial law.

So my TU has massive inequity between rich consensus worlds, and exploited minor worlds, and a nobility that is chiefly concerned with creating the conditions that allow their business interests to reap big profits. The fox is guarding the henhouse.

 

[mike wightman]

The Imperial does not rule its member worlds, but it does tax them.

It is the duke's role to ensure the worlds in his duchy pays up.

The individuals who populate those worlds are not directly taxed by the Imperium, and so the Imperium need not grant them rights.

Those who serve in Imperial forces can likely claim Imperial citizenship, and core sector worlds that are directly ruled by the Imperium - which may include Hal's excellent suggestion for the Ministry of Colonization - also have Imperial citizen rights.

But the population of frontier worlds that enjoy extensive home rule can not benefit from their so called citizen status because the Imperium does not intervene on member worlds.

Now if you are a disgruntled revolutionary and you manage to make it to the subsector dukes court you may be able to petition for your rights as an Imperial citizen.

I doubt you would have much luck walking up to an IN officer on shore leave and demanding he/she protects your Imperial citizenship rights.
In much the same way I doubt if the nobles below ducal rank are much more than servants of the duchy and have limited ability to answer local petitions for Imperial Citizenship rights to be respected.

Note that this is one of the reasons for the Rebellion, Dulinor believed the Imperium should take much more direct action to better the lives of all Imperial citizens.

 

[mike wightman]

snippety snip

Just wanted to say that I really enjoyed reading that post.

And then ask how you see the megacorporations fitting into this?

Do megacorporation employees claim Imperial Citizenship rights; since the megacorp shareholders tend to include noble families and the emperor does that not give megacorps leverage to claim right for its employees that locals may find difficult if not impossible to petition for?

Notice that mercenaries are protected by repatriation bonds, and that Imperial forces may actually turn up to ensure they are honoured - mind you a lot of merc are ex-Imperial forces...

 

[kilemall]

In my view, the legal powers of worlds don't extend beyond the starport gate -- or, to draw an arbitrary line, 10 diameters. Beyond that we're in Imperial space, unless there is some agreement to the contrary, as might happen in the case of a high tech, high pop world that has colonized other planets in its system. I treat this as a matter of Imperial law: worlds may not make extraterritorial laws.

In theory, worlds can extradite you from anywhere in the Imperium, but in practice the Imperium won't commit any resources to doing this unless that world has clout -- high tech, high pop. Bounty hunting is probably a lucrative business.

Hmm, perhaps lack of extradition effort put in, except for one thing-

breaking the law in Imperial territory.

So offending the Three Faced God on High Holy Day gets you the death penalty on Pilgrim IV and a priest-assassin extradition team after you, but posting the wanted bulletin on the X-boat network gets a big yawn and no holding of potential extraditees from the IN.

Probably a condition for most worlds is honoring extradition, at least to the point of not interfering with an active team (but maybe not assisting with extradition efforts they disagree with).



However, if you are shooting up starports or engaging in piracy, that's happening in Imperial territory and Imperial law AND LE should be after you. If the Kininur spots you, unless they are doing something else very important they WILL start the chase.

Bearing in mind that the Imperial raison d'etre is to maximize profit-taking in interstellar trade, support will come from those worlds that benefit most, the rich, high pop, high tech worlds. And I suggest that per capita Imperial tax rates are lower on those worlds. It just so happens that these are the only worlds with enough power to dispute arrangements. I don't see worlds themselves having any power, through the moot or otherwise. But those rich, high pop worlds -- let's call them consensus worlds -- enjoy noble favour and so have de facto representation.

I like the TCS naval tax, even if it isn't canon, because it has the ring of 'fairness' to it, but is actually harsher on the lower earning lower currency value worlds.

Worlds govern themselves, but do not necessarily own their resources. On consensus worlds, most or all lands are privately owned and most resource rights are also locally owned. But elsewhere, most of the territory of a world is Imperial lands and most of the resources belong to the Imperium itself. If you want to exploit those lands and resources, you pay leases and royalties.

This is how my Terran Confederation funds itself. The idea is that the Outer Space Treaty saying all of space belongs to humanity as a whole is still in force, but the signatory nations to the UN/TC want to be able to settle an area and apply their law and culture to it. They pay up to do it, providing revenue.

So my TU has massive inequity between rich consensus worlds, and exploited minor worlds, and a nobility that is chiefly concerned with creating the conditions that allow their business interests to reap big profits. The fox is guarding the henhouse.

If I were doing nobles, that's what I would be doing with them- they have skin in the game.

A LOT of credits hanging in the balance.

Need to build it though so the nobles don't just sit on their fief like a dragon over a hoard, but they have to play ball throughout the subsector to enhance their interests, hence becoming Travellers.

 

[aramis]

The Imperial does not rule its member worlds, but it does tax them.

It is the duke's role to ensure the worlds in his duchy pays up.

The individuals who populate those worlds are not directly taxed by the Imperium, and so the Imperium need not grant them rights.

Those who serve in Imperial forces can likely claim Imperial citizenship, and core sector worlds that are directly ruled by the Imperium - which may include Hal's excellent suggestion for the Ministry of Colonization - also have Imperial citizen rights.

But the population of frontier worlds that enjoy extensive home rule can not benefit from their so called citizen status because the Imperium does not intervene on member worlds.

Now if you are a disgruntled revolutionary and you manage to make it to the subsector dukes court you may be able to petition for your rights as an Imperial citizen.

I doubt you would have much luck walking up to an IN officer on shore leave and demanding he/she protects your Imperial citizenship rights.
In much the same way I doubt if the nobles below ducal rank are much more than servants of the duchy and have limited ability to answer local petitions for Imperial Citizenship rights to be respected.

Note that this is one of the reasons for the Rebellion, Dulinor believed the Imperium should take much more direct action to better the lives of all Imperial citizens.

There has long been an argument about whether the 3I has a universal citizenship, or if it has a Citizen/Subject-National distinction.

 

[mike wightman]

The Traveller Adventure is pretty clear on this - member worlds in the SM can do what they like to their population and the Imperium is not interested.

On the plus side, when the PCs use their ship lasers to destroy most of Pysadi's church militia the Imperium couldn't care less...

 

[aramis]

The Traveller Adventure is pretty clear on this - member worlds in the SM can do what they like to their population and the Imperium is not interested.

On the plus side, when the PCs use their ship lasers to destroy most of Pysadi's church militia the Imperium couldn't care less...

Meanwhile, T4 assures that all intelligent lifeforms are protected beings and thus citizens...

 

[welsh]

And then ask how you see the megacorporations fitting into this?

Most employees are locals, subject to local laws. But corporations have a lot of money and influence, so if the management of Megacorp wants to locate an office on some planet with restrictive laws, they may house their people in an enclave within whose walls local law enforcement has been told to look the other way ... which I gather is not an unusual arrangement for westerners in Saudi Arabia, for example.

Another wrinkle is that there are very few nobles, but lots of mega-rich interstellar business people. (There aren't enough nobles even to form 1% of the 1%....) So there is a kind of informal shadow nobility, who enjoy noble-like privilege thanks to their money and influence and the degree to which their interests are intertwined with noble interests.

 

[mike wightman]

Meanwhile, T4 assures that all intelligent lifeforms are protected beings and thus citizens...

A lofty ideal and I'm sure someone believed it once upon a time.

Imperial propaganda - the evidence we have shows this.

 

[welsh]

Imperial propaganda - the evidence we have shows this.

I treat all the "white hat Imperium" stuff I run into as schoolbook propaganda: the kind of stuff you read in high school history textbooks that gets thrown away in post-secondary studies.

 

[Condottiere]

Imperium citizenship may subject you to direct taxation, but would also extend it's protection to you, assuming you can contact the local Imperium representative.

 

[flykiller]

(and Ladies who should possibly join in on this!)

yeah girls! we're gonna talk about taxes and extrality and interventions and protocol! join in!

uh ... ladies? hello?

Imperial propaganda

yeah. but then you run into the nobles that actually believe it and implement it. they can do that, you know ....

 

[Hal]

Ok, I think we can all agree that Various incarnations of Traveller play ping pong on whether or not there are Imperial Citizens or Citizens/Subjects. Mongoose Traveller's SECTOR FLEET states on page 54:

"Any would-be recruit is interviewed and his Imperial ID checked to ensure he is not wanted for any Imperial crime. Local misdemeanors are not considered particularly important, but major crimes such as rape or murder are against Imperial laws regarding the rights of sentient beings, and will debar the recruit from enlisting, whatever other consequences may
ensue."

That implies then, that Imperial Laws can be imposed from without a main world's government. After all, if those are IMPERIAL Laws, can a member world ignore those laws? If security from Rape is deemed an Imperial Right, then those cultures who practice what amounts to wholesale rape - are they not in violation of Imperial rights/laws?

My wife (who is a gamer) asked me in the car as we drove about on errands, because we were discussing this thread - said "What about the Armed Services?" I told her that GURPS TRAVELLER GROUND FORCES indicates that there isn't a single Imperial Army so much as a combination of world armies forced to work together. I brought up REFORGER exercises between the US and NATO allies and mentioned that separate chains of command from separate nations do not always work well together - as well as a single unified command structure. Then she asked a very pertinent question - one that I would never have really thought about...

"How does the Imperial Army recruit its soldiers if they are not citizens of the Imperium?" Can they be drafted? I mentioned that each member world MIGHT be required to furnish a set number of bodies for the Imperial Troops. Her next question was then "What are their mandated terms of required service? 4 years? 2 Years? How long?"

But the gist of this is simple enough...

If you're not a citizen of the Imperium, how can it conscript your service in its military? How can you build a professional core military and TRUST it?

In the end? Her question about military service points the one biggest discrepancy in the concept of sovereign worlds and the Imperial Military...

How to motivate loyalty in non-citizens.

Answer that and I'll bet you that absent certain "rights" and certain "responsibilities for those rights" - you will run into the trap of conscript armies.

So - what are the universal rights of any Imperial Citizen except "no slavery"?

 

[Hal]

Imperium citizenship may subject you to direct taxation, but would also extend it's protection to you, assuming you can contact the local Imperium representative.

Ok, let's look at your scenario...

Assuming that there are "fiefs" on that world that are considered the same as embassies, as the soil of the Imperial capital world (as postulated in my first post). Suppose too, that the local government maintains its own extrality guard units surrounding the estates of the nobles. Why does the Imperium offer certain 'rights" but only if you can get to the Nobility to complain of its violations - yet on the other hand, say that the worlds have sovereign rights that the Imperium doesn't violate?

a man about to be executed for spitting on the iconographic representation of the dominant religion's prophet - escapes onto the estates of the Imperial Noble. Now what?