Barrayaran Imperial Auditor

Imperial Auditor is a fictional position in the government of Barrayar in Lois McMaster Bujold's sci-fi series the Vorkosigan Saga; alternatively referred to as 'The Emperor's Voice'.

On Barrayar, there exist up to eight permanent Auditors and the Ninth Temporary Auditor. These auditors are appointed by the Emperor and speak with his Voice. Voice is a Barrayaran legal concept of proxy which bestows the hierarchical authority of one person upon another of otherwise lesser rank. This bestowed authority is plenipotentiary, but applies only where the person of lesser rank is carrying out his formal duties. Imperial Auditors hold their appointments till death, retirement, impeachment, or until the Emperor rescinds the appointment. Usually, they serve for life.

Imperial Auditors were originally the Emperor's financial auditors: They made sure that the Counts were correctly paying the Emperor his taxes. Because they spoke with the Emperor's Voice, they soon became feared. It is said that bandits would ride point for an Auditor and make sure that no one disturbed him on his way. On Barrayar, the appearance of an Auditor is an immediate concern, and Barrayarans usually spend the few minutes between realizing an auditor is en route and the time he gets there trying to figure out what he had done to be Audited.

On modern Barrayar, Imperial Auditors serve more as Special Investigators. They usually try to solve problems that have escaped conventional problem solving strategies.

From Diplomatic Immunity:

As far as can be discerned there is no real world equivalent to an Auditor as a permanent office. Their appointment by the chief executive, combined with the lifelong appointment and the fact that there are eight or nine of them, makes Auditors look like American Supreme Court Justices, but their jobs are in no way related. In some of their duties, they are analogous to special prosecutors, in others to the chairmen of special commissions such as the Challenger Disaster special commission, and in some to conventional financial auditors, but with far more legal clout (as befits their supposed origin as the Auditors of the various Counts during the Years of Isolation). In Diplomatic Immunity, Miles acts as the effective military commander of the Barrayarian forces in Quaddiespace during his investigation, as evidenced by this quote: Miles: "As the Emperor is commander-in-chief of the Barrayaran military, his Voice is automatically the ranking officer of any Barrayaran force in his vicinity, yes. If the emergency so demands it." A similar execution of military power in place of another leader was used in the Roman Republic's Promagistrates.

...
Wikipedia