Law in Star Trek

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section is currently in the middle of an expansion or major revamping.
However, you are welcome to assist in its construction by editing it as well. Please view the edit history should you wish to contact the person who placed this template. If this article has not been edited in a while please remove this template. If you are making a large edit, consider using {{inuse}} to avoid other editors attempting to edit the article, and producing edit conflicts.

Law in Star Trek refers to the legal procedures and proceses as seen in the Star Trek fictional universe. Since its inception in the 1960s, Star Trek has explored two types of law which appear in the series and film incarnations. Military law is influenced by the actual Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) ^[1] while civil law is modeled after the United States legal system.^[2] Star Trek: The Original Series dealt only with military law in the form of court martials, while later series and films showed how civilian law appears in the Star Trek universe ^[3]

1 Federation Law
2 Non-Federation Legal Systems
3 Sources
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Federation Law

The Law of the United Federation of Planets is investigated in several episodes of Star Trek and resembles a democratic legal system, the type today seen in such countries as the United States and the countries of the European Union. Federation Law is based on several historic documents, such as the Magna Carta and the Constitution of the United States. it also incorporates aspects of fictional legal documents, such as the Fundamental Declarations of the Martian Colonies (TOS "Court Martial").

The Star Trek universe has many famous jurists, among them Judge Aaron Satie who stated:

"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied – chains us all, irrevocably." [1]

There are also several rights afforded to citizens of the Federation among which are:

The Seventh Guarantee: The right of a person to not be held to bear witness towards themself. ("The Drumhead")

Trial law also permits several rights ("Court Martial"), among them:

The right to face an accuser
The right to counsel
The right to cross examination
The right to examine any evidence brought before a court

Military law of the Starfleet contains some additional rights such as:

The right to challenge any member of a military board if the accused feels that they may harbor a predujiced attitude towards their case
The right to consent to any Starfleet member appointed to head a military board or appointed as the prosecution.
The right to make a statement before questioning

[edit] Treaty Law

Star Trek deals extensively with the concept of interstellar treaties, a concept modeled on the present treaty system of United Nations, among other nations. When Starfleet ships are deployed outside of the Federation, contact and dealings with other spacefaring races are handled in a manner similar to what happens when modern naval ships from different nations met on the high seas in accordance with maritime law.

The idea of a "Neutral Zone" appears frequently in Star Trek, the first such reference being in the original series to the Romulan Neutral Zone. A Klingon Neutral Zone also is said to exist in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock with discussions of dismantling this zone of the main themes in Star Trek VI. Star Trek neutral zones were perhaps influenced in fiction by one that actually appeared in the real world. The Saudi-Kuwaiti neutral zone and the Saudi-Iraqi neutral zone came into being before the term was first used in Star Trek.

Extradition law is also quite prominent in Star Trek with the first such use of this in "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield". According to that episode: "Intergalactic Treaty clearly specifies that no being may be extadited without due process". The episode then speaks of a hearing at a Starbase to determine the status of the extradition. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine also visits the issue when Worf is charged with a crime by the Klingon Empire, and an extradition hearing is held on Deep Space Nine.

In the computer game "Birth of the Federation", the player may adopt, enforce, and break several different types of treaties among them:

Friendship Treaty: Allows passage through another race's space and the ability to trade with them
Non-Aggression Pact: Stablizes and closes borders, prevents going into another's space and, more importantly, being attacked by them
Affiliation Treaty: Used for minor races who affiliate with a major power, allowing access to thier planet's resources and spaceyard facilities
Membership Treaty: A minor race joins a major power and the planet becomes part of the player's space empire
Alliance: Two major powers join forces together, with the territory held by both combined as one for the "Domination Victory" aspect as of the game
Declaration of War: Used by a major power to declare war on either another major power or a minor race. Allows attacking of enemy ships and assaults on planets.

[edit] The Death Penalty

Capital punishment is present in Star Trek as many races encountered in the show practice execution. As of the 24th century, the United Federation of Planets apparently does not, per a comment of Captain Picard to the Edo that "no longer" does the Federation execute its criminals. In the 23rd century, the "only death penalty left on the books" was General Order 7 (later called General Order 4) referring to contact with Talos IV. It should be noted though that at least one Federation member planet had death sentences for other crimes (seen in "The Cloud Minders"), demonstrating that planet law and Federation law are separate, much like modern day state and federal law. A supremacy clause has never been discussed, as in what would happen if a planet law contradicted with Federation standards, however it is mentioned that the Federation will not accept member planets who engage in such activities as slavery or who use a caste system (Deep Space Nine).

[edit] Starfleet Judge Advocate General Corps

A 23rd century Starfleet Court Martial

The main legal body seen in Star Trek is the Starfeet JAG Corps, responsible for legal matters and issue affecting membrs of the Starfleet. Starfleet JAG officers were first seen as early as the first season of Star Trek: The Original Series wth JAG members seen in most of the other series and at least one motion picture.^[4] To date, confirmed JAG members include:

Lieutenant Areel Shaw prosecutes Captain James T. Kirk in his 2267 court-martial for alleged negligence in the death of Lieutenant Commander Ben Finney. ^[2]
Captain Phillippa Louvois presides over a hearing that rules that Lieutenant Commander Data is not Starfleet property.^[5]
Rear Admiral Bennett arranges for Richard Bashir's incarceration – and his son's, Julian Bashir, retention of a Starfleet commission – as punishment for the genetic enhancements done to Julian revealed. ^[6]

A JAG hearing is seen in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine to decide whether Lieutenant Commander Worf should be extradited to the Klingon Empire following the destruction of a Klingon civilian transport. ^[7]

The loss of a starship automatically leads to a JAG court-martial^[5]. Such courts-martial were held following the loss of the USS Pegasus^[8] and USS Stargazer^[5].

Dialogue reveals that a court-martial may be convened in the absence of any JAG officers by three presiding command-level officers.^[2]

One aspect of Starfleet legal procedure which is hardly explored is the concept of Captain's Mast. The first mention of Starfleet having a type of Captian's Mast is when Captain Kirk solely addresses the group of bar fighters from "The Trouble with Tribbles" and then orders punishment of confinement to quarters. The second occurrence happens years later where Ira Graves possesses Data^[9] and Captan Picard, thinking Data is behaving in an insubordinate way, states that he can punish data by "using discipline".

There are also minor references in Deep Space Nine and Voyager to Captain's Mast type punishments, usually when Benjamin Sisko and Katherine Janeway would order someone put in the brig or confined to quarters in response to a discipline infraction. In one episode of Voyager, Janeway actually demotes Tom Paris to the rank of Ensign: something that a Commanding Officer in a real world Captain's Mast would not have the authority to do (this is easily explained by Voyager being in the Gamma Quadrant and Janeway may have been acting under emergency legal authority) ^[10]

[edit] Non-Federation Legal Systems

The legal systems of the Klingon Empire, Cardassian Union, and Romulan Empire are all featured in several Star Trek episodes. The Romulan system resembles Federation Law in some respects - the accused has the right to make a statement before sentencing, and the right to counsel ("TOS The Enterprise Incident"). In Cardassian Law, a person's guilt is decided before the trial begins - the trial is used as a process for the prosecutor to show how the person's guilt was proved. (DS9 "Tribunal"). Klingon law is founded, more than anything else, on the concept of honor.

[edit] Klingon legal system

[edit] Personal honor

Much of the Klingon legal system revolves around personal honor - there are several occasions where it is suggested that insulting the honor, bravery or competence of a Klingon warrior could result in a fight to the death:

When Sisko strikes Worf with the back of his hand, Worf informs him that this gesture could be interpreted by Klingons as a challenge to the death. (DS9: Apocalypse Rising)

Picard: You want to destroy the ship and run away, you coward.

Worf: If you were any other man, I would kill you where you stand! (Star Trek: First Contact)

After Riker repeatedly offers Kurn guidance, Kurn replies "If [the Enterprise] were a Klingon ship, I would have killed you for offering your... suggestion". (TNG: Sins of the Father)

The fact that none of these individuals are killed suggests that Klingons might allow outsiders a bit more slack when committing social faux-pas than they would tolerate from other Klingons.

The ultimate punishment for a Klingon is discommendation, a process whereby a Klingon is symbolically stripped of their honor by the High Council, and their name can no longer be spoken. It is first revealed in (TNG: Sins of the Father), when Worf accepts such a fate to maintain unity within the Klingon Empire. Several references throughout the episode indicate that such a fate is considered worse than execution. Part of the ritual involves the High Council turning their backs on the disgraced individual. This ritual is repeated in (DS9: The House of Quark), when a Klingon is publicly shamed by the High Council for attempting to kill an unarmed Ferengi.

[edit] Family honor

Unlike other legal systems, which hold only individuals responsible for their crimes, the Klingon legal system extends rewards and sanctions to family members, through the law of heredity (G'now juk Hol pajhard): "A son will share in the honors or crimes of his father." (TNG:Redemption I)

If a family member commits treason, the family will be dishonored for seven generations. (TNG:Sins of the Father)

A Klingon who allows themselves to be captured in battle dishonours themselves and their sons for three generations. (TNG:Birthright)

In a house with no single father figure, but two or more brothers, the elder brother speaks for the family. (TNG: Redemption)

[edit] Vengeance

If a member of a house is killed dishonourably, another member of that house may claim the right of vengeance, allowing that house member to kill the murderer of their kin. This right supercedes even discommendation - in (TNG: Reunion), a discommendated Worf is allowed to challenge Duras, under the claim that Duras killed his mate, K'Ehleyr. Worf faces no legal sanctions after killing Duras - the Klingons consider the matter closed, even though Duras was one of the contenders to lead the Empire.

However, this does not extend to those killed honourably. In (DS9: The House of Quark), D'Ghor tells Quark that an accidental death would pass disgrace onto the victim's family, but a death in personal combat "would be honorable... and an honorable death needs no vengeance".

The right of vengeance can also be extended to family members of the accused. However, the wronged person has the right to spare the accused's life, though such a decision is highly unorthodox. In (TNG:Redemption II), Worf is given the life of Toral, son of Duras, as a result of Duras's crimes, even though Duras is long gone. Worf refuses to kill the child, and forbids anyone else to do it. He states, "You gave his life to me... and I have spared it." The decision is openly questioned, but allowed to stand.

[edit] Corruption

Klingons often mention the importance of honor, and a common criticism Klingons make of Romulans is that they are a race "without honor." However, there are several incidents portrayed in Star Trek where not only individual Klingons, but the Klingon government itself is shown to act with questionable ethics. Most notably, in (DS9: Rules of Engagement), Worf is accused of firing upon a civilian transport without cause, killing 441 Klingons. However, it is later revealed that the entire incident was a political ruse, intended to discredit Worf and the Federation.

In (DS9: Tacking into the Wind), Ezri Dax suggests that these problems are not limited to individuals, but have become systematic within the culture:

"I see a society in deep denial about itself. We're talking about a warrior culture that prides itself on maintaining centuries-old traditions of honor and integrity... but in reality, it's willing to accept corruption at the highest level."

[edit] Cardassian legal system

A Cardassian Court of the 24th century

In the Cardassian legal trials are entirely a formality and only have a ceremonial function. The verdict is determined long before the actual trial is held. The person prosecuted learns what he or she allegedly committed at the trial. ^[11]

[edit] Other legal systems

Ferengi legal system

Ferengi culture and legal system is based entirely on commerce, and the 285 Rules of Acquisition comprise the sacred code on which all of Ferengi society is based. In addition, Ferengi law strictly forbids women from earning profit, leaving the homeworld, or even wearing clothes. ^[12]

Q legal system

The Q are omnipotent beings who live in an extradimensional plane of existence. Any Q has the power to travel in time, or between parallel universes lesurely or destroy entire star systems with a snap of fingers. Q legal systems implications can affect entire races and they can be sentenced to cease to exist from time.^[13] However this conduct was found to be unacceptable and Q was punished for living a mortal life among humans. His sentence was later pardoned.^[14] However, same Q trialled the entire human race as he did on first episode on the last one.^[15] Q's own son is also sentenced to live the rest of his life as a mortal amoeba but his punishment was lowered to the "second worst thing", living as a mortal human. Q managed to negotiate a deal to watch over the boy for all eternity.^[16]

Capital punishment is been exercised by the Q on rare occasions as it happened to amandas Q parents.^[17] However Q are not allowed to die unless sentenced to death by the continuum. ^[18]

Edo legal system

The Edo, inhabitants of Rubicun III, live in a virtual utopia. There is no crime in Rubicun III and anyone violating a crime no matter how minor it may be is punished with capital punishment.^[19]

Argrathl legal system

The Argrathl legal system has trials. But for more serious crimes people sentenced to prison are not sent to an actual prison, instead the memories of being in prison in the sentenced length are added to the criminals mind in a matter of hours. ^[20]

Banea legal system

The Banea legal system has trials. If prosecuted with murder, the criminal is forced to continiously live the memories of the person he/she murdered for the rest of his/her life with constant time intervals.^[21]