Most court systems of the many governments of the Landsraad worlds had recognized the crime of treason. Now the person of the emperor, and his governmental officials, were added to the list of those people and offices against whom such a crime could be committed. Since the power of the emperor extended throughout all of the worlds controlled by the Imperium, cases of crimes against the emperor increased with astonishing speed. One of the factors in Ihis rate of increase was the tendency for disgruntled or dishonest citizens to file false accusations of crimes against the Imperial throne. Courts often proved somewhat unwilling to disallow such accusations or to find (he defendant innocent, for fear that the emperor would be offended. After more than a centttiy and a half the situation became so troublesome that a solution had to be found. The court calendars of virtually all the planets were so clogged that some defendants did not live to see their cases tried, and few could see a case through appeal unless they had become enmeshed with the law at a Very early age. The Great Houses were becoming vocally resentful of what they saw as Imperial interference in their local affairs, since on many planets, especially those with more repressive governments, the Imperial system was doing the majority of the'legal business. The reforms which cut this Gordian knot were die work of the emperor Negara II (reigned 123-184) and his legal advisor, the great jurist Berad Mekdum. Under the system established by Mekdun, in order for a crime to become subject to the emperor's justice, a proems-verbal had first to be lodged. Only the heads of Minor or Great Houses could bring such an accusation, which would be given under oath and before a truthsayer, to an Imperial corrector. This testimony would then be submitted to the governor of the imperial province, and to the Great House of the planet in question, if that House was not involved.