High Magistrate of Izea

With their reputation for justice and the presence of Bairn's Hall in their central basin it was inevitable that Izea would put great structure around their judiciary. It is said that no occupation in the government of Izea is more distinguished than that of a magistrate and the most prestigious magistrate in the land is known officially as the High Magistrate of Izea, more commonly referred to as "the Judge."
The office and title of High Magistrate was created around two centuries ago to fill a strange need in Izea, a judge of judges. With the centralized judiciary of the country, legal matters were no longer localized things and each case, no matter how small, was recorded in the legal tomes of the magistrates and stored within the library in Bairn's Hall. As the library grew, those who sat in judgement of their fellow citizens could peruse the library and sit in judgement of their colleagues, both past and present. Such was the important of justice and the egos of the magistrates that not a case passed through the hall without some sort of dissenting voice who would question each judgement. For a time, the queen would allow the magistrates to have their arguments without interference, but when a case came forth that was important to the business of the kingdom and spent years being argued amongst the judiciary she decided enough was enough. The role of High Magistrate was born. The Judge was the only person empowered to settle disputes amongst the magistrate and being named the High Magistrate was considered the highest honor that anyone in all of Izea could receive. The only catch was that the High Magistrate was completely anonymous to all but their predecessor and their staff of two, a clerk and a guard.
Each High Magistrate is picked for their embodiment of the legendary virtues of Brombek Bairn and each must vow not to reveal their position to anyone, not even their spouse. The "Judge" hears arguments from other magistrates in a closed box, similar to a confessional, and only communicates through written proclamations and rare statements from their clerk. The High Magistrates decisions are final and are considered equivalent in power to a declaration from the reigning monarch, in fact there have been a few cases where the High Magistrate has overruled a decision by the monarch and, by tradition, the monarch is forced to withdraw their decision. It has not yet been tested for a monarch to attempt to circumvent the High Magistrate and conventional wisdom is that it would be unwise to try.
When a High Magistrate chooses to retire they must pick their replacement based on their own judgement of that person's skills and honor. In the event of an unexpected death of a High Magistrate they keep a name in a sealed envelope that is held by the clerk and only opened if absolutely necessary. In the history of the position the envelope has never been opened.
Clerks and guards are chosen by the High Magistrate whenever one of the staff chooses to retire. While simply staff members, the prestige that comes from being a clerk or a guard to the High Magistrate is extreme and several have their names writ large in history books. There are even a few records of magistrates trying to bribe a clerk to learn the name of the current Judge or even get a leg up on a nomination for the role, but this has yet to be successful and its hoped that it never is.