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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) (TNG: "The Drumhead") while civil law is modeled after the the United States legal system (TOS: "Court Martial"). Star Trek: The Original Series dealt only with military law in the form of court martials, while later series and films investigated how civilian law appears in the Star Trek universe.
Starfleet Judge Advocate General Corps
JAG Lieutenant Areel Shaw prosecutes Captain James T. Kirk in his 2267 court-martial for alleged negligence in the death of Lieutenant Commander Ben Finney.
JAG Captain Phillippa Louvois presides over a hearing that rules that Lieutenant Commander Data is not Starfleet property.
JAG hearing to decide whether Lieutenant Commander Worf should be extradited to the Klingon Empire following the destruction of a Klingon civilian transport.
JAG 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.
The loss of a starship automatically leads to a JAG court-martial. Such courts-martial were held following the loss of the USS Pegasus and USS Stargazer.
Dialogue reveals that a court-martial may be convened in the absence of any JAG officers by three presiding command-level officers.
One aspect of Starfleet legal procedure which is hardly explored is the concept of Captain's Mast. 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 "The Trouble with Tribbles" and then orders punishment of confinement to quarters. The second occurence happens years later where Ira Graves possesses Data (TNG: "The Schizoid Man") 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 Benjamin Sisko and Katherine Janeway would order someone put in the brig or confined to quarters in response to a discipline infraction. In episode of Voyager, Janeway actually demotes Tom Paris 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: "The Omega Directive").
Non-Federation Legal Systems
The legal systems of the Klingon Empire, Cardassian Union, and Romulan Empire 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 The Enterprise Incident"). Cardassian Law states a person is guilty before they go to trial (DS9 "Tribunal") and Klingon Law revolves around trial by combat (DS9 "The Way of the Warrior") but with a formal trial procedure in place as well (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country).
Klingon law
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In the fictional Star Trek universe, Klingon law is that law code which is used in the Klingon Empire. A large proportion of what we know of the Klingon law code comes from the film Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, in which an assassination trial is witnessed, and the Deep Space Nine episode, The House of Quark, in which Quark 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.
The Klingon law code is rather similar to that of the Federation, with a few key differences:
- Klingon law provides that both the prosecution and the defence present their cases simultaneously.
- Klingon law provides for some key rights:
- 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.
- 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".
- Murder is a capital offence under Klingon law.
- Assassination is also a capital offence under Klingon law.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 Worf, of collusion with the Romulans. Because of Klingon law, Worf and his brother Kurn 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 discommendation for over a year to protect the Empire, and to stay alive long enough to right that wrong.
References
- ^ "Court Martial". Star Trek.
{{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter|episodelink=ignored (|episode-link=suggested) (help) Cite error: The named reference "TOS Court Martial" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page). - ^ "The Measure of a Man". Star Trek.
{{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter|episodelink=ignored (|episode-link=suggested) (help) - "Rules of Engagement". Star Trek.
{{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter|episodelink=ignored (|episode-link=suggested) (help) - "Doctor Bashir, I Presume?". Star Trek.
{{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter|episodelink=ignored (|episode-link=suggested) (help) - "The Pegasus". Star Trek.
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- Okuda, Michael & Denise (1994,1997,1999). The Star Trek Encyclopedia. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-03475-8.
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External links
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