How did Joseph II protect peasants who appealed against their lords?

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Portrait painting of Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, wearing a black and red military coat with medals and a sash, with St. Peter's Basilica visible in the background. — Joseph II Joseph II, Holy Roman emperor, detail of a painting by Pompeo Girolamo Batoni, 1769; in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.

To protect peasants who sought to challenge their lords, Joseph II issued decrees that allowed peasants to appeal directly to the central government for the redress of grievances.12

This measure was specifically designed to prevent feudal courts—which were controlled by the lords—from sabotaging his reforms by issuing biased rulings against peasants attempting to exercise their new rights, such as the freedom to move, marry, or choose a trade without a lord's permission.12