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{{short description|Legal processes in Star Trek fiction}} |
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{{Underconstruction}} |
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{{DISPLAYTITLE:Law in ''Star Trek''}} |
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'''Law in Star Trek''' refers to the legal procedures and proceses as seen in the '']'' ]. Since its inception in the 1960s, Star Trek has explored two types of law which appear in the series and film incarnations. ] is influenced by the actual ] (UCMJ) (TNG: "]") while ] is modeled after the the ] (TOS: "]"). '']'' dealt only with military law in the form of ]s, while later series and films investigated how civilian law appears in the Star Trek universe.{{fact}} |
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'''Law in ''Star Trek''''' refers to the legal procedures and processes as seen in the '']'' ]. In several TV episodes and films since its inception in the 1960s, ''Star Trek'' has used fictional legal constraints and consequences as a plot device both as a parable for contemporary society in the real world, and to explore the society and politics of the future.<ref>See, e.g., Michael Stokes Paulsen, ''CAPTAIN JAMES T. KIRK AND THE ENTERPRISE OF CONSTITUTIONAL INTERPRETATION: SOME MODEST PROPOSALS FROM THE TWENTY-THIRD CENTURY'', 59 Alb. L. Rev. 671 (1995); Paul Joseph and Sharon Carton, ''THE LAW OF THE FEDERATION: IMAGES OF LAW, LAWYERS, AND THE LEGAL SYSTEM IN "STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION"'', 24 U. Tol. L. Rev. 43 (1992)</ref> |
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A discussion of this subject by Paul Joseph and Sharon Carton in the ''University of Toledo Law Review'' examines how this fictional set of laws deals with controversial issues in American law, such as the ] and ], as well as the law's response to ].<ref> Robert Chaires and Bradley Chilton. p73</ref> The details and application of these laws, and the ways in which these reflect real-world legal systems, are further examined in the ''Adventures in Law and Justice: Exploring big legal questions in everyday life'' by Bryan Horrigan and ''Star Trek Visions of Law and Justice'' edited by Robert Chaires and Bradley Chilton. The former discusses the possibility of applying a comparison between law and a part of popular culture to the teaching of national and international law. |
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==Starfleet Judge Advocate General Corps== |
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JAG ] Areel Shaw prosecutes ] ] in his 2267 ] for alleged negligence in the death of ] Ben Finney. <ref name="TOS Court Martial">{{cite episode|title=Court Martial|episodelink=Court Martial (TOS episode)| series=]}}</ref> |
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==United Federation of Planets== |
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JAG Captain Phillippa Louvois presides over a hearing that rules that Lieutenant Commander ] is not Starfleet property.<ref name="TNG The Measure of a Man">{{cite episode|title=The Measure of a Man|episodelink=The Measure of a Man (TNG episode)| series=]}}</ref> |
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{{Main|United Federation of Planets}} |
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In ''Star Trek'', the Federation is depicted as a ]n interplanetary federal republic stressing the importance of sentient rights, respect for life, and non-aggression. A legislative, judiciary, and executive branch are present. The ], a controversial guiding principle of the Federation, states that there should be no interference with the development of any pre-warp alien civilization; the only known higher law in the Federation (according to canon) is the highly classified ']', which directs captains to seek out and destroy the extremely dangerous 'omega particles' and effectively 'rescinds' the Prime Directive in cases where the 'Omega Directive' applies. |
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==References== |
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JAG hearing to decide whether Lieutenant Commander ] should be extradited to the ] Empire following the destruction of a Klingon civilian transport. <ref name="DS9 Rules of Engagement">{{cite episode|title=Rules of Engagement|episodelink=Rules of Engagement (DS9 episode)| series=]}}</ref> |
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{{Reflist}} |
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==Further reading== |
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JAG ] Bennett arranges for Richard Bashir's incarceration – and his son's, ], retention of a Starfleet commission – as punishment for the ] done to Julian revealed. <ref name="DS9 Doctor Bashir, I Presume">{{cite episode|title=Doctor Bashir, I Presume?|episodelink=Doctor Bashir, I Presume? (DS9 episode)| series=]}}</ref> |
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* ''Adventures in Law and Justice: exploring big legal questions in everyday life'' by Bryan Horrigan, Univ. New S. Wales Press 2003, {{ISBN|0-86840-572-8}} |
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* '''' by Chaires, Robert (EDT) & Chilton, Bradley (EDT), Texas A & M Univ Pr, {{ISBN|0-9668080-2-9}}, Copyright 10/1/2002 |
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The loss of a starship automatically leads to a JAG court-martial<ref name="TNG The Measure of a Man"/>. Such courts-martial were held following the loss of the ]<ref name="TNG The Pegasus">{{cite episode|title=The Pegasus|episodelink=The Pegasus (TNG episode)| series=]}}</ref> and ]<ref name="TNG The Measure of a Man"/>. |
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* ''The Ethics of Star Trek'' by Judith Barad and Ed Robertson, Harper Perennial (November 27, 2001) {{ISBN|0-06-093326-7}} |
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Dialogue reveals that a court-martial may be convened in the absence of any JAG officers by three presiding command-level officers.<ref name="TOS Court Martial">{{cite episode|title=The Menagerie|episodelink=The Menagerie (TOS episode)| series=]}}</ref> |
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One aspect of Starfleet legal procedure which is hardly explored is the concept of ]. Only on two occasions, over a 30 year period, is a brief mention made of this and then, only in action and not by name. The first is when Captain Kirk solely addresses the group of bar fighters from "]" and then orders punishment of confinement to quarters. The second occurence happens years later where Ira Graves possesses ] (TNG: "]") and Captan Picard, thinking Data is behaving in an insubordinate way, states that he can punish data by "using discipline. There were also minor references in Deep Space Nine and Voyager to Captain's Mast type punishments, usually when ] and ] would order someone put in the ] or confined to quarters in response to a discipline infraction. In episode of Voyager, Janeway actually demotes ] to the rank of Ensign: something that a CO 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) (ST:VOY: "]"). |
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==Non-Federation Legal Systems== |
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The legal systems of the ], ], and ] are all explored through the Star Trek's development. Of the three, the Romulan system actually closest resembles Federation Law with rights of the accussed to make a statement before sentence and right to counsel ("TOS ]"). Cardassian Law states a person is guilty before they go to trial (DS9 "]") and Klingon Law revolves around ] (DS9 "]") but with a formal trial procedure in place as well ('']'').{{fact}} |
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===Klingon law=== |
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{{Unreferenced-section|date=December 2006}} |
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In the fictional ] universe, '''Klingon law''' is that law code which is used in the ] Empire. A large proportion of what we know of the Klingon law code comes from the film ], in which an ] trial is witnessed, and the ] episode, ''The House of Quark'', in which ] accidentally kills a Klingon. It should be noted that over a century elapsed between the dates of these two events, however, and some evolution of the system may have occurred in that period. |
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The Klingon law code is rather similar to that of the ], with a few key differences: |
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* Klingon law provides that both the prosecution and the defence present their cases simultaneously. |
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* Klingon law provides for some key rights: |
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** If the head of a house kills the head of another house honourably, he has the right to marry his victim's widow and thereby become the leader of that house as well, in a ritual called '''bIreqtal'''. {{fact}} |
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** If a member of a house is killed dishonourably, another member of that house may swear to blood revenge, allowing that house member to kill the murderer of their kin (it is unclear what limits exist on which house member this must be); this is a legal right called '''bortaS DIb''', the "Right of Vengeance". |
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* Murder is a capital offence under Klingon law. |
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* Assassination is also a capital offence under Klingon law. |
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* A Klingon who allows him or herself to be captured in battle and doesn't attempt to escape or fight his or her way free dishonors themselves and his or her family for three generations.{{fact}} |
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* As in Federation law, the captain of a starship is responsible for the actions of his crew. If a member of a crew is not able to be located for prosecution, the captain may be prosecuted in his stead. |
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* In Klingon law, a Klingon's family is responsible for his or her actions, and the family is responsible for the individual's acts. If a family member commits treason, the family will be dishonored for generations. One of the most well known examples is when the Klingon government accused Mogh, father of ], of collusion with the ]s. Because of Klingon law, Worf and his brother ] were also guilty of Mogh's act under Klingon law. It actually was Duras' father who committed the treason, but if that had been revealed, at the time it would have caused civil war. Worf then accepted ] for over a year to protect the Empire, and to stay alive long enough to right that wrong. |
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==References== |
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<div class="references-small"> |
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<references /> |
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*{{cite book|author=Okuda, Michael & Denise|authorlink=Michael Okuda|title=]|location=New York | publisher=Pocket Books|year=1994,1997,1999|id=ISBN 0-671-03475-8}} |
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</div> |
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{{Star Trek}} |
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== External links== |
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*{{memoryalpha|Judge Advocate General}} |
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{{law-stub}} |
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{{scifi-stub}} |
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{{StarTrek-stub}} |
