Cardassian Concept of Justice and Jurisprudence
 
Those outside of the Cardassian system--particularly those from the Federation--are often distressed by what they perceive as
the injustice of the Cardassian legal system. The idea that the verdict and the sentence are known prior to the trial strikes them
as a mockery of justice: if the verdict and the sentence are known, why have a trial at all?

Perhaps the misunderstanding lies in the differing perceptions of the purpose of a trial, or even the word trial itself. In the old
United States, the purpose of the trial was to give the State the opportunity to present its evidence against the accused. If, in the
eyes of the court (judge[s] or jury, depending on the particular system), the evidence proved beyond a reasonable doubt that
the accused was, in fact, guilty of the crime of which he/she was accused, punishment would be meted out bu a judge within the
parameters specified for the particular offence--assuming, of course, that the guilty party was not released on some technicality.
As the rules for procurement and presentation of evidence were quite stringent, it was not unusual for a criminal to walk, even
though it was clear to all observers that said individual was beyond any question entirely guilty of the offense.

The Cardassian approach to a trial is quite different. To begin with, there is no word that corresponds to "trial" or "to try
someone." The closest Cardassian words are vercir, meaning "a sentence or judgement," and verciroy, meaning "punishment."
There is no trial ie, no presentation of evidence to be weighed in order to determine guilt; If they are arrested, then they are automatically considered guilty. The purpose of the vercir is educational: having caught the guilty party, the State presents, for the edification of the public, the results of the investigation which was conducted in order to flush out the wrongdoer. In observing the vercir, the people are assured of the power of the State: transgressors will always be caught, and justice will always triumph. Another aspect to the vercir deals with the preeminence of the State as opposed to the individual. The Vulcans say, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. On Cardassia, we say, sivh/ajifol vaos^ro ayet sivh/ajofol damc^elro. "The survival of the State is the survival of the people." Without the State, the people are adrift: a boat without sail, oar, or rudder. Only a strong State can provide the structure, security, and stbility needed to safeguard the people. It is possible that, in the process of ensuring the supreme authority of the State, a given individual may be inappropriately sanctioned; in the greater picture, this is of little consequence. The individual brought to the vercir recognises this, which is why confessions are inevitably forthcoming. In confessing--in particular, confessing to a transgression which oone did not commit--the vercirsi (the one who is judged) selflessly performs one last act of service to the State, providing to the people observing the vercir the opportunity, once again, to take comfort in the reassurance that the State will stand firm against any who would assail it.
 

The Occupation of Bajor

In 2328 the Cardassians claimed Bajor as their territory, establishing sovereignty in the Bajoran system. It was formally annexed in 2339, and occupied until 2369, when Bajoran resistance fighters presumably subverted their control and drove them from the system.

 There have been several theories put forth to explain the Cardassian occupation of Bajor in which some have some validity, however, none have given a cogent explanation for the invasion. Bajoran archivists have chronicled events in their beliefs, which suffice to say, is prejudice to the diverse basis of warfare. The most common factor is the tendency toward aggression and domination of other worlds. Nevertheless, no one could comprehensively substantiate that this applied to the occupation of Bajor. In Cardassian history, it is recorded that we were once a peaceful and spiritual people. But because our planet was resource-poor, starvation and disease were rampant, and people died by the millions. Although it is perhaps accurate to ascribe our aggressive tendencies based on their plight, one still can't use this as evidence to articulate a major reason for an invasion.

Because war is a social act, motives should be searched for in the nature of societies. The Cardassian social class system is diverse; people need sufficient food, clothing, and living space. Deprivation of any of these leads to anxiety and to a search for ways to relieve the deprivation. Starvation impels a social group to look for more territory. This can result in colonization of uninhabited and habited lands. The Cardassian occupation was also an extension of politics; acquiring territories to strengthen the military and the economy through economic expansion: technology and industrialization of the state, therefore, the occupation of Bajor was socioeconomic in nature. The search for natural resources, combined with a need for technology and manufactured goods, fueled their campaigns. The Cardassian belief system, whether deployed as knowledge or as theory, are socially mediated. Their social existence is characterized historically by a struggle for survival, therefore, their social existence determines their consciousness. To call them a militaristic race is a gross misconception of the origins of society itself, which is rooted in struggle. A regimental society should not be construed as militarism, for the basic premise for the military was to feed the populace. It is true that the domination of the military class had a tremendous impact upon the cultural milieu of society, however, it wasn't in relation to the occupation of Bajor.

 Naturally, anytime a social class is dominated by a military class, one easily assumes that the society is consumed by the forces of war and ideology. You could argue that the military did indeed determine society's "legal" and "political" superstructure, but you would be in error if you extrapolated that as the reason in which Bajor was occupied.

 The withdrawal from Bajor was due to military overexpansion. The continued "militarization of the economy" to support their campaigns, and the "border wars" with the Federation, had begun to deplete the resources that they had acquired: manpower and industrial-resources (ore). After sixty-years of occupation, I find it impossible to believe that the Cardassian withdrawal was due to the insurgence of a mobbish band of Bajoran rebels. The Bajorans didn't possess the armaments to launch a full-scale assault on a space station that was built haphazardly for defense, but could easily withstand the resistance "best" efforts.
 

The Obsidian Order

The Obsidian Order was established over five-centuries ago, the role of the Order was to gain information about an enemy and to sabotage his operations. Over the centuries the Obsidian perfected the art of covert entry, especially designed to infiltrate enemy territory in during the unification of the Cardassian Empire.

 Traditionally, the Obsidian Order's duty demands one, or all, of three actions: espionage, sabotage, assassination. Their strict code keep the agents of the Order cloaked in the shadows, apart from other branches of the Empire. Nevertheless, the Order's success produce great results, within short period of time an agent can infiltrate and disassemble a governing body, creating anarchy.

 The original teachings and principles of the Obsidian Order, which is currently practiced, were developed through an experimental knowledge of psychological patterning, mind-altering techniques, and the workings of information extraction and intelligence gathering. These methods produce superb results for the greater good of the Cardassian Empire. The Obsidian Order decrees that information is power, the lack of it breeds mistakes of judgment, therefore, an Order agent is never absolved of his/her failures. Their obligation is to offer oneself "courageously to the Order," whose demands and welfare transcended all individual rights and values. And as part of the belief system of the Cardassian Empire, it was not restricted to Order agents alone, but applied to all Cardassian citizens. From this broad spectrum of considerations, the Obsidian Order science of survival of the Empire and the Order under any circumstances eventually took its shape. Growing in power, the Obsidian Order has begun to saturate the government by creating a new central power, one that refuse to tolerate any unanimity with an enemy. One does not make a pact with an enemy, he eradicates him. The Obsidian Order believes the current political structures and social patterns of thinking and acting that were interminably dominant in the Empire centuries of Cardassian history will soon solidify and institutionalize the Cardassian Empire. In addition, they strongly deem the Central Command, the prevailing authority over the government, is in gross error and will soon self- destruct the State. At the pinnacle of their rule they have instituted campaigns that nearly paralyzed the economy with protracted campaigns.

Given the pervasive attitude toward the Central Command, it is apparent that civil war is inevitable. Such beliefs might be written off as sheer and ignorant emotional bravado by the Central Command, but there were a number of instances in which the Obsidian Order matched such sentiments with their deeds. For example, possessing military equipment and forming an alliance with the Romulan Tal Shiar.