Disclaimer: This article is for entertainment purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. Should the Jedi show up asking to test one of your children, the only legal advice I can ethically give is to hire a lawyer.
Warning, contains Spoilers from The Acolyte
So how do the Jedi get new recruits? We first learn a bit about the process in The Phantom Menace when Qui-Gon Jinn reveals that Force sensitive recruits are identified at an early age. The recent show The Acolyte further develops this by showing how potential recruits are tested, which includes a blood test, and a test that was basically the same test that Peter Venkman uses in Ghostbusters, minus the shocks.
Those that pass the tests could then potentially join the Jedi Order. Since the Jedi have rules against attachment, they try and recruit candidates before they have developed many attachments, which means they are looking for those who are very young. But how young? We know that a 20ish Luke Skywalker is viewed as being too old to begin training, as is a ten year old Anakin Skywalker, and an eight year old Osha. So the ideal candidate seems to be probably not much older than four or five years old (for species that have more or less a human life span. It is a little different for recruits like Grogu.). A legal question arises: when a candidate is making a commitment to the Jedi Order, who is actually making the commitment?
Under California law, a minor doesn’t have legal capacity to enter into a contract. California Code, Family Code section 6710 gives a minor the power to disaffirm a contract. Section 6711 precludes the minor’s right to disaffirm an obligation where such obligation was entered into under express authority or direction of a statute. Given the rigors of training involved with becoming a Jedi, it is unlikely the Jedi Order would want a youngling to be able to disaffirm the commitment easily.
The most likely way the Republic would have addressed this issue is to require the consent of a parent or guardian. Further, the consent would have likely been required in writing. Why would the Jedi want it in writing? One needs to consider the commitment that the recruit is making. Upon joining the Jedi Order, a recruit cuts off all ties with the life they had before joining the Jedi Order, which means the parent or guardian is unlikely to ever see or hear from their child again. This is an enormous sacrifice, and it is likely that in the history of the Jedi Order, one or more parent or guardian attempted to disavow their consent and demand that the recruit be returned to the recruit’s family. If the Jedi produces the written consent, it is very likely that the courts would side with the Jedi. Sure, the parent or guardian could argue the Jedi used an old Jedi mind trick to get them to sign against their will, but given the deference the Jedi enjoyed during the Republic Era, it is unlikely that the parent or guardian would get very far.
The Acolyte supports the theory that the Jedi need some form of consent from the parent or guardian. When Sol is testing Osha, and he realizes that her mother, Aniseya, has directed her to fail the test, he encourages Osha to stand up to her mother and make clear her desire to join the Jedi Order. If the Jedi didn’t need Aniseya’s consent, they would have likely taken Osha with them to Coruscant without discussing it further with witch coven. Instead, they wanted Aniseya’s consent for Osha to join the Jedi Order.
So assuming that consent is necessary, and that it is required to be in writing, did the Jedi actually get Aniseya’s consent for Osha to join the Jedi? Not in writing. Even if the Jedi could convince a judge to ignore the writing requirement, they would still have potential problems convincing a judge. Mother Aniseya did tell Sol that she was going to let Osha join the Jedi Order. Is that enough? If the issue of consent came before the court, Sol could testify what Aniseya provided her consent orally. The problem with this is that such a statement is potentially hearsay under Federal Rule of Evidence 802.
Federal Rule of Evidence 804(b)(3)(A) provides an exception where the declarant says a “Statement Against Interest”. Basically a statement that “a reasonable person in the declarant’s position would have made only if the person believed it to be true because, when made, it was so contrary to the declarant’s proprietary or pecuniary interest or had so great a tendency to invalidate the declarant’s claim against someone else or to expose the declarant to civil or criminal liability”. Neither Aniseya, nor the witches coven wanted Osha to leave, so admitting that she would have let her go is clearly against hers and the witches’ interests. The problem is the other part of the test from Federal Rule of Evidence 804(b)(3)(B), which requires the statement be supported by corroborating circumstances that clearly indicate its trustworthiness. Aniseya didn’t make this statement until after Sol had run her through with his lightsaber. Even the most Jedi friendly judge would likely question the trustworthiness of the statement given the circumstances.
Based on the circumstances it is unlikely that the Jedi Order got the proper consent to recruit Osha into its order. On the other hand, considering how things ended with the coven, it is unlikely there was anyone with capacity to challenge Osha’s recruitment.
