Imperial Auditor is a fictional position in the government of Barrayar

Barrayar

Barrayar is a science fiction novel by Lois McMaster Bujold. It was first published as four installments in Analog in July–October 1991, and then published in book form by Baen Books in October 1991. Barrayar won both the Hugo Award for Best Novel and the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel...

 in Lois McMaster Bujold

Lois McMaster Bujold

Lois McMaster Bujold is an American author of science fiction and fantasy works. Bujold is one of the most acclaimed writers in her field, having won the prestigious Hugo Award for best novel four times, matching Robert A. Heinlein's record. Her novella The Mountains of Mourning won both the Hugo...

's sci-fi series the Vorkosigan Saga

Vorkosigan Saga

The Vorkosigan Saga is a series of science fiction novels and short stories set in a common fictional universe by American author Lois McMaster Bujold. Most of these were published between 1986 and 2002, with the exceptions being “Winterfair Gifts” and Cryoburn...

; alternatively referred to as 'The Emperor's Voice'.

What is an Auditor?

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:

Bel: "this Emperor's Voice thing sounded like something out of a fairy tale, to me. Until I got to the fine print. Then it sounded like something out of a really gruesome fairy tale."

Miles: "Oh, did you look up my job description?"

Bel: "Yeah ... Imperial Auditor's a pretty stunning promotion — whoever handed you that much unsupervised power on a platter has to be almost as much of a lunatic as you are."

Real World Basis/Inspiration

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 life-long 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 prosecutor

Special prosecutor

A special prosecutor generally is a lawyer from outside the government appointed by an attorney general or, in the United States, by Congress to investigate a government official for misconduct while in office. A reasoning for such an appointment is that the governmental branch or agency may have...

s, in others to the chairmen of special commissions such as the Challenger

Space Shuttle Challenger

Space Shuttle Challenger was NASA's second Space Shuttle orbiter to be put into service, Columbia having been the first. The shuttle was built by Rockwell International's Space Transportation Systems Division in Downey, California...

 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."

Current Imperial Auditors (as of Diplomatic Immunity)

• Lord Auditor Miles Vorkosigan
  Miles Vorkosigan
  Miles Naismith Vorkosigan is the hero of a series of science fiction novels and short stories by Lois McMaster Bujold known as the Vorkosigan Saga. In an article in The Vorkosigan Companion, Bujold acknowledged several real-life inspirations for the character: T. E...
  
  :
  • Specialty: Politics and Imperial Security, as well as High Vor (aristocratic) social affairs.
  • By far the youngest Auditor ever appointed in peacetime at 30.
  • Most Progressive and liberal Auditor
    • "You're half-Betan
      Beta Colony
      Beta Colony is an important planet in Lois McMaster Bujold's science fiction series the Vorkosigan Saga. The planet's biome is almost entirely desert, described as "screaming hot," and the colony itself exists primarily underground.The concept of Beta Colony was first created and introduced in...
      
       Miles, you're just the man for the job."
• Lord Auditor Professor Dr. Georg Vorthys:
  • Specialty: Engineering Failure Analysis.
  • Possibly based in part on Bujold's father, Professor of Welding Engineering http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=1384&page=266 Robert Charles McMaster
  • Vorkosigan's uncle-in-law.
  • Uncle of Ekaterin Vorsoisson
    Ekaterin Vorsoisson
    Ekaterin Vorsoisson is a character in Lois McMaster Bujold's sci-fi series, the Vorkosigan Saga. Her character is first introduced with the Vorsoisson surname, though it changes to Vorkosigan when she marries Miles.-Ekaterin Vorvayne:...
    
    .
• Lord Auditor Vorhovis:
  • Specialty: Galactic Affairs, Ambassadorial Duties
  • the 2nd youngest Auditor after Miles Vorkosigan (in his early 60's)
  • 2nd Most Progressive of the Auditors aside from Vorkosigan as well.
• Lord Auditor Vorgustafson:
  • Specialty: Industry and Economics.
  • Former industrialist and current philanthropist.
• Lord Auditor Admiral Vorkalloner:
  • Specialty: Military Affairs.
• Lord Auditor Vorlaisner
  • Specialty:???
• Lord Auditor Vorparidjis:
  • Specialty: None.
  • The eldest Auditor, an unofficial Auditor Emeritus and figurehead, who is never called upon to do actual Auditor work or even attend meetings, the most Conservative of the Auditors
• Lord Auditor Admiral Valentine:
  • Specialty: Military Affairs.
  • Currently semi-retired, too frail to perform duties.

Miles Vorkosigan's memorable Audits include

• The investigation of the "assassination" of Chief of Imperial Security Simon Illyan
  Simon Illyan
  Simon Illyan is a fictional character in the Vorkosigan Saga science fiction novels by Lois McMaster Bujold.- Origin of name :Bujold named the character partly for Illya Kuryakin, a character in The Man from U.N.C.L.E..- Biographical summary :...
  
   - at the time, Vorkosigan held the temporary Ninth Auditor post. --> Occurs in the novel Memory
• The investigation of the crash of a space freighter into the Komarran Soletta  --> Occurs in the novel Komarr
• The legal issue of Count Vormuir's 118 uterine replicated daughters. --> Occurs in the novel A Civil Campaign
• The investigation of the Commercial fleet stranded at Graf Station  --> Occurs in the novel Diplomatic Immunity