Something set right, or something asked of the Ministry
Lay a petition in the Petition Box
What you get backA number of your own. Keep it — with it you may ask after your petition at any time, and no officer can lose it.
Questions and Answers
What this Ministry is for, what it gives out, what you may ask of it, and where to go when the matter is not ours. If your question is not answered here, lay it in the Petition Box and it will be.
Start Here
Ask something of the MinistryLay a petition. You get a number the same moment, and the number is yours to keep.
Ask after a petitionGive the number you were issued and you will be told where your matter stands.
Find a recordEvery record the Ministry has made public. Start typing and the rolls will offer what they hold.
What This Ministry Is
The Ministry of Civil and Administrative Affairs keeps the civil rolls of the Imperial Province of Skyrim. It records what is done, issues the instruments the law places with it, carries word between the offices of the province, and sends Delegates to the Holds so that the Empire and the Jarls may deal with one another in good order.
It is worth saying plainly what it is not. This Ministry gives no judgment and hears no trial; that is the Ministry of Justice. It commands no soldier and holds no fort; that is the Imperial War Office. It recognises no noble title and grants no arms; that rests with the Governor, and this Ministry may only receive declarations under written delegation. An officer who claims otherwise is exceeding their office, and you may say so in a petition.
What You May Ask, and What Comes Back
To know what became of a petition you already laid
Give its number at the petition desk
What you get backIts standing only: received, under review, referred, or closed. What is written inside stays with the Ministry.
A copy of a record, or to know whether one exists
Search the public rolls; if it is not there, lay a petition asking for it
What you get backThe record itself if it is public. If it is not, the Ministry will tell you whether it may be opened to you.
Leave to print, to cry news, or to carry on a trade the law entrusts to this Ministry
Lay a petition naming the law under which you ask
What you get backA License of the Ministry, with its term and its conditions written on it, and your name entered in the public register.
To take a new name upon the rolls
Lay a petition asking for a Writ of Change of Name
What you get backA Writ of Change of Name, which you fill in and sign yourself, and the Ministry’s rolls amended to answer to it.
An audience with an officer of the Ministry
Lay a petition, or write to the officer through the Directory
What you get backA Request for an Audience sent to you, on which you set the day, the hour and the place, and sign.
To know what the law is
Read the Ledger of Laws
What you get backThe law as this Ministry holds it. For an authoritative reading of a law, the Ministry of Justice answers, not this one.
To bring a crime, a dispute, or a complaint against an official
Lay it before the Ministry of Justice, not this one
What you get backA number and a receipt from Justice. This Ministry keeps no court and gives no judgment.
To write to the Legion — about a soldier, a garrison, or a matter of the province’s defence
Send a letter to the Imperial War Office
What you get backAn answer from the Office, and your letter entered upon its post.
What the Ministry Gives Out
Every instrument below is a real document with a number, a date and a hand that signed it. If you are given one, it is entered upon the rolls the same day.
| Instrument | What it is |
|---|---|
| A Petition | Your own words entered upon the rolls, with a number you keep. Everything a subject asks of this Ministry begins here. |
| A License of the Ministry | Leave to carry on an activity the law places with this Ministry — the press, printing, and the like — with its term and conditions written plainly on it. |
| A Writ of Change of Name | The record of a subject laying down one name and taking another. You fill in your own part and sign it; the Ministry amends its rolls to answer to the new name. |
| A Request for an Audience | Sent by the Ministry when it wishes to meet you. You set the day, the hour and the place, and sign it back. |
| A Public Notice | What the Ministry declares to the province. These stand on the Notice Board and anyone may read them. |
| A Certificate of Authentication | The Ministry compared a paper against its own records and certifies what it found. An administrative finding, not a judgment. |
| A Finding of an Inquiry | What an Imperial Adjudicator established as fact. The Adjudicator finds facts and refers crimes; the Adjudicator does not prosecute. |
| A Dispatch or an Accord | The record of what a Delegate did in your Hold, or of an understanding freely made between parties and witnessed by the Ministry. |
| A Copy of a Record | Any record the Ministry has made public, bearing its number and the date it was entered. |
Questions People Ask
Does it cost anything?
No. No officer of this Ministry may set a fee or a requirement by office custom. If a fee is lawful it is written in the law itself, and the officer must show you where. Anyone who asks you for coin to move your matter along is not acting for this Ministry, and you should say so in a petition.
How long will it take?
It depends on what you ask and how many matters stand ahead of yours. The Ministry does not promise a day. What it does promise is that your petition has a number from the moment it is laid, that the number does not move, and that you may ask after it whenever you like.
Who will read what I write?
The officers of the branch your matter belongs to, and those above them. A petition is not published. What appears on the public rolls is only what the Ministry has marked public, and it marks a thing public by deciding to, not by accident.
Can I write on behalf of someone else?
Yes. Name yourself and name them, and say plainly in what standing you write — kin, steward, advocate, or friend. If the matter is theirs and not yours, the Ministry may need to hear from them before it acts.
What if my matter belongs to another Ministry?
Say so or do not — the Ministry will see it either way, and refer it with its records to whoever it belongs to. You will be told where it went. The table further down shows where most things go.
What if I am not a citizen of the Empire?
The Petition Box is open to any person in the province. Some things — a license, an office, an entry upon certain rolls — the law may reserve. Where it does, the Ministry will tell you which law, not merely that the answer is no.
Can the Ministry arrest me, fine me, or judge me?
No. This Ministry keeps rolls, issues instruments, and carries word between offices. It holds no court, keeps no gaol and commands no soldier. Arrest and judgment belong to the Ministry of Justice and the Legion. If an officer of this Ministry tells you otherwise, they are exceeding their office.
Someone showed me a paper with this Ministry’s seal. How do I know it is real?
Bring it to any clerk and ask. Papers of the Ministry of Justice carry a check-number you can ask after yourself. For a record of this Ministry, search the rolls by its number — if nothing answers to it, the paper did not come from here.
Can I see who works here?
Yes. The Directory lists every officer and the office they hold, and says plainly where an office stands vacant. If an officer will not give you their name and rank, that is itself a matter you may petition about.
I disagree with what the Ministry decided.
Say so in a petition and set down why. If the decision was an administrative one of this Ministry, it will be looked at again. If it was a judgment of the bench, the appeal lies with the Ministry of Justice and not with us.
If the Matter Is Not Ours
The Ministry will refer your matter itself and tell you where it went. This is only so you know beforehand.
| The matter | Where it belongs |
|---|---|
| Public Ministry notice, declaration, correction, press or literature record | Administrative Office / Imperial Registrar |
| License expressly entrusted to Civil Affairs | Administrative Office / Register of Licenses |
| Petition or civil concern involving Hold relations | Civil Clerk → Delegate / Envoy to the Holds |
| Administrative misconduct within Ministry competence | Envoy to the Holds → Adjudicator |
| Suspected crime | Record facts → refer to Hold, Legion or judicial authority |
| Authoritative interpretation of Imperial law | Ministry of Justice |
| Internal order / residuary matter | Ministry of the Interior |
| Heraldry / noble recognition | Governor's Office; Civil Affairs only under delegation |
| Finance, revenues, treasury | Finance and Economics |
| Military discipline or military judicial matter | Imperial Legion / military authority |
| Ecclesiastical administration | Imperial Cult / competent authority |
| Matter belonging to another Ministry or Peer Institution | Refer; do not assume jurisdiction |
The Other Ministries