Raven/Adjudication
Adjudication directs Raven's operations at the highest level, including making decisions on granting candidates licenses as well as prosecuting violators of the Dimensional Security Accords. It contains the High Council, as well as the supporting Secretariat and Archival divisions. The entirety of the Adjudication department is located within the Sigma Unit in Black Mountain to ensure both the integrity and confidentiality of its decisions.
High Council
The High Council is the highest executive and judiciary component of Raven. Members are elected scientific professionals who have been trained in international law and come from many different Coalition member states. All members must undergo Sigma Star clearance, including Full Depth Memory Screening (FDMS), and infohazard scans administered by Black Research.
Members of the council are referred to as High Adjudicators, as in cases of violations they act as both judge and jury. Decisions made by the council are nearly always final, and appeals are granted only by member consensus. There are exactly ten seats on the Council, excluding the Speaker, who mediates adjudication discussions. The identities of all council members are not classified; but for their personal safety members are discouraged from leaving Black Mountain except in exceptional circumstances.
High Council decisions are known as verdicts, and are cryptographically signed statements that are binding across Raven. Adjudicators deliberate on verdicts within the Deliberation Room inside the Sigma Unit, and no personnel except Adjudicators are permitted inside during the deliberation process. Each Adjudicator casts a vote with their security credentials using a system inside the room and directly linked to the Key Vault Security Controller (KVSC) inside the adjacent Key Vault. If the vote passes, the Hardline cryptographic modules inside the vault will sign the verdict, and it will immediately take effect.
Secretariat
The Secretariat division of Adjudication is responsible for delivering verdicts on cases of lesser importance that are considered unworthy of full Council deliberation. This includes the vast majority of escalations by personnel for negative license renewal decisions made by Reality Control. Secretariat decisions can be appealed to the Council by involved parties, but the wait for a deliberation slot can take multiple years due to its constant workload.
Archival
The Archival division is responsible for cataloguing and storing the vast amount of information involved in the decision-making process, including evidentiary data and final outcomes. As the vast majority of this data is highly classified, it is held with a high level of security, and elements of the evidence are often redacted or destroyed after the decision is delivered.