Space Law

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Abbreviated Space Law

Jurisdiction: NanoTrasen Shuttles, NanoTrasen General-Operations Stations, NanoTrasen Transit Stations, NanoTrasen Command Stations

Law Enforcement Privilege holders listed in order of authority: NanoTrasen Internal Affairs, NanoTrasen Central Commanders, NanoTrasen ERT Corps, Station Commanding Officer, Station Security

Quick Reference

	1XX - Minor	2XX - Major	3XX - Capital
01	Disturbance	Rioting	Sedition
02	Trespass	Secure Trespass
03	Petty Theft	Grand Theft
04	Destruction	Sabotage	Grand Sabotage
05	Animal Cruelty	Conduct Unbecoming	Unlawful Control
06	Failure to Comply	Breach of Detainment	Breach of Custody
07	Poss: Controlled Substances	Poss: Restricted Gear	Poss: Restricted Weaponry
08	Endangerment	Assault
09		Attempted Murder	Murder
10		Manslaughter
11			Prevention of Revival
12			Terrorism
13		Obstruction of Lawful Process	Abuse of Lawful Process

1. Crimes

1.1. Minor

	Offense	Description	Max. Sentence
101	Disturbance	To cause a public disturbance: To repeatedly engage in disruptive or inappropriate conduct, in which, after warnings, refuses to cease.	04:00
102	Trespass	To enter a non-public access area without verbal or written permission.	02:00
103	Petty Theft	To take non-vital or inexpensive property of another individual, organization, or common property, without consent.	04:00
104	Destruction	To cause damage to any structure or object created by NanoTrasen Workers, including station and off station structures, that does not compromise the safety of crew members.	04:00
105	Animal Cruelty	To inflict unnecessary suffering or harm on a non-sapient being with malicious intent. This doesn’t include legitimate and authorized animal testing and usually doesn't extend to vermin or creatures that could pose a threat to the station.	05:00
106	Failure to Comply	To fail to comply with a lawful order or warrant by a Law Enforcement agent.	04:00
107	Poss: Controlled Substances	To, without reasonable doubt, be the owner or holder of an illicit Substance without a legal permit stamped by the relevant authority, under Appendix A: Controlled Substances.	03:00
108	Endangerment	To recklessly put yourself or others in danger, either through direct action, or failure to act.	06:00

1.2. Major

	Offense	Description	Max. Sentence
201	Rioting	To take part in a large group of personnel creating an unlawful public disturbance. To partake in an unauthorised riotous, tumultuous, and disruptive public assembly that refuses to disperse after warning.	08:00
202	Secure Trespass	To enter a secured area without permission.	08:00
203	Grand Theft	To take critical or unreplaceable property of another individual or organization without consent.	08:00
204	Sabotage	To destroy or otherwise disable critical station infrastructure important to the operation of a department, or the station as a whole.	10:00
205	Conduct Unbecoming	To conduct oneself in a manner that is unacceptable for their position. Covers public intoxication, reckless handling of department equipment, refusal to follow reasonable and direct orders of a superior, ...	Demotion AND/OR 08:00
206	Breach of Detainment	To intentionally resist and flee arrest or detainment by an authorized staff.	06:00
207	Poss: Restricted Gear	To hold or use non-lethal items or objects that are restricted or illegal.	05:00
208	Assault	To threaten to or to use physical force against someone without the intent to kill.	08:00
209	Attempted Murder	To make an attempt to use physical force against someone with the intent to kill.	12:00
210	Manslaughter	To incidentally kill a sophont being without intent.	12:00
213	Obstruction of Lawful Process	The failure to follow or interruption of lawful proceedings. Includes refusing a sophont's legal rights with no basis to do so.	06:00

1.3. Capital

	Offense	Description	Max. Sentence
301	Sedition	To incite a revolt or violence against a lawful authority with intent to destroy or overthrow it.	08:00
304	Grand Sabotage	To intentionally and maliciously destroy, repurpose or otherwise render unusable critical NanoTrasen equipment or systems on a large scale with severe negative impact to an entire stations crew.	10:00
305	Unlawful Control	To unlawfully restrain, transport, control or confine a sapient being against that individual’s will.	12:00
306	Breach of Custody	To break out of a cell or custody with the intention of escaping.	06:00
307	Poss: Restricted Weaponry	To hold or use a restricted weapon which the holder does not have authority to carry.	08:00
309	Murder	To kill a sophont being with malicious intent.	16:00
311	Prevention of Revival	To intentionally render a sophont body unrevivable, through any means.	Capital
312	Terrorism	To engage in maliciously destructive actions which threaten to destroy, or successfully destroy a vessel or habitat.	Capital
313	Abuse of Lawful Process	To intentionally and maliciously abuse your own or someone else's lawful rights to a extreme extent with malicious intent, to effect otherwise lawfully dubious goals.	12:00

2. Warrants

Warrants should be written in clear language and fit for purpose.
All warrants should carry the identity of the requesting sophont.
All warrants should carry the identity of the approving sophont.
A warrant is only valid when signed and stamped, if applicable, by the requesting and approving sophonts.
A warrant not validated by the above requirements is invalid in terms of law, and shall not be actioned upon.
A warrant shall only be actioned upon by a sophont presently holding Law Enforcement Privilege.

3. Searches

A personnel search requires one of the following conditions:
- The station's alert level is Code Blue or higher.
- A valid personnel search warrant can be presented to the person of interest.
A departmental search may include the following:
- Search of departmental areas.
- Search of all department personnel.
A departmental search requires all of the following conditions:
- A valid departmental search warrant can be presented to each person of interest.
- The warrant is additionally signed and stamped, if applicable, by the department's head or acting head.
A sophont holding Law Enforcement Privilege and a valid departmental search warrant may compell department members to report to their departmental area via radio.
Members of a department should comply with reasonable instructions of officers conducting a departmental search.
All sophonts currently actioning a departmental search warrant should be accompanied by a member of the department while inside departmental areas.

4. Arrests

Law Enforcement Privilege holder may arrest a suspect when:
- They hold a warrant that accurately describes: The target, the reason for arrest
- The suspect is actively engaging in criminal conduct.
- The suspect is marked as Wanted in the station's Criminal Records system.
- The suspect is actively endangering the life of another sophont or their own.
Upon effecting an arrest on a sophont, the arresting officer should seek to escort the arrestee to custody within a reasonable time frame.
- Upon entering a station's designated brig area, the arrestee is considered to be in custody.
Upon effecting an arrest on a sophont, the arresting officer should make all reasonable efforts such that the arrestee's rights are upheld, as detailed in Abbr. Space Law directive 6.
An arresting officer should make note and clearly state the time of arrest, defined as either of the following two definitions, whichever happens earlier:
- Start of custody for the arrestee.
- Two minutes after the last application of controlling force that is not the application of handcuffs upon the arrestee, which directly lead to the successful arrest.

5. Sentencing

Each arrestee will be processed within a timely manner and with no unreasonable delays.
Sentencing is to be done via the following chain: Warden > Head of Security > Vessel Commanding Officer / Station Security > Vessel Command
Sentencing is a right exclusively reserved to those who have passed the NanoTrasen Security Officer's Exam or the NanoTrasen Command Exam.
An arresting officer shall not take an active role in sentencing the arrestee, unless there is no other choice.
A sentencing officer should declare any conflicts of interest in a timely manner and should seek an alternative officer to defer the case to when declared.
Upon sentencing, the arrestee is to be told their charges as well as the amount of counts for each charge they are facing.
When two instances of the same crime are committed, it may be considered a separate count if one of the following applies:
- The victim of both offenses is not the same.
- The timing of both offenses is at least five minutes apart.
When charging multiple crimes at once, the sentences for those charges may be summed once for each count.
A sentencing officer has authority deviate from the sentencing guidelines at their discretion, but will be expected to answer for the use of this right if brought into question.
The minimum term of imprisonment shall be no less than two-thirds of the maximum term prescribed for the offense.
A sentence passed by stationbound security forces shall only consist of (a combination of) the following components: A brig sentence, confiscation of unpermitted items, demotion
If an arrestee is sentenced to a capital punishment, they are to be brigged indefinitely and all efforts should be made to report this to Central Command as soon as possible. The decision on execution, exfiltration, preservative stasis, ... will be made by Central Command and communicated back.
It is strictly illegal to sentence an arrestee to execution, exfiltration or preservative stasis without Central Command approval. Doing so incurs an automatic Abuse of Lawful Process charge and a Conduct Unbecoming charge.

5-bis. Crime modifiers

A modifier is a circumstance, either extenuating or aggravating, which is applied to a specific count of a specific charge which modifies the resulting sentence.
If multiple modifiers apply to a crime, only the most impactful extenuating circumstance and the most impactful aggravating circumstance may be counted.
Extenuating circumstances include:
- Cooperation / Good Behavior: An arrestee is cooperative with Law Enforcement throughout the course of their arrest and processing. (Multiplier: 0.50 to 0.75)
- Dire Emergency: The arrestee committed the crime through the process of undeniably reasonable actions taken with the intent to mitigate or resolve a dire emergency on the vessel that undeniably endangers sophont lives. (Multiplier: 0)
- Self Defense: Any criminal action taken by an arrestee to, beyond reasonable doubt, protect their own life should be treated with lessened impact. (Multiplier: 0.25 to 0.50)
- Duress: Someone who commits a crime under provable threat for their own life or that of other sophonts cannot be held accountable for that crime. (Multiplier: 0 to 0.25)
Aggravating circumstances include:
- Deadly weapon: Any sophont found to be in possession of a deadly weapon they are not authorised to carry, and found to have demonstrated intent to use it will receive a longer sentence. (Multiplier: 1.50)
- Recidivism: Any sophont convicted of the same charge within the same shift at a previous point in time will have their sentence for that charge increased. (Multiplier: 1.50)
A sophont who knowingly acts as an accessory to a crime shall be charged for that crime in full.
A sophont who knowingly solicits others to commit a crime shall be charged for that crime in full.
A sophont who attempts and fails to commit a crime shall be charged for that crime in full.
A sophont who demonstrates clear intention, through speech, actions or possessions, to commit a crime may be charged for that crime in full.

6. Treatment of prisoners

A prisoner is entitled to legal counsel from the moment they are arrested, provided that such is available within the physical bounds of the vessel the arrest was effected on.
A prisoner is entitled to a safe living environment.
A prisoner is entitled to medical attention when required. A prisoner who commits repeated (>2) acts of self harm forfeits this right.
A prisoner is entitled to their shift-mandated headset to communicate. A prisoner who misuses their headset in custody and continues to do so after being a clear warning forfeits this right.
A prisoner is entitled to food and water compatible with the prisoner's physiological needs.
A prisoner is entitled to continue to carry any prescription medication they have on them, as well as anything necessary for its method of application. This right may be amended, altered or withdrawn by consensus of the Warden (or otherwise sentencing-capable officer) and a member of Station Medical.
A prisoner has the right to know and understand their charges and sentencing.
A prisoner has the right to one trial for (a subset of) their Capital charges. The presiding judge may then decide on a replacement sentence, if any. A Commanding Officer may refuse trial if organising such would severely disrupt the operation of the vessel, or in otherwise extraordinary circumstances.

Appendix A: Controlled Substances

[Chemists/Science] Explosive and pyrotechnic compounds excluding welding fuel contained in welders or welding fuel storage vessels
[Science] Toxins
[Medical] Chloral hydrate, Impedrezene, Ipecac, and Pax
[Medical] Desoxyephedrine and Ephedrine
[None] Vestine and any Vestine-based chemicals (Nocturine, Mute Toxin, Hyperzine, Lexorin and Tazinide)
[None] Mindbreaker toxin
[None] Norepinephirc acid
[None] Romerol
[None] Space drugs

Appendix B: Restricted Gear

[ERT/Central Command] ERT and central command clothing
[Command] Command clothing
[Security] Security clothing
[Security] Less than lethal and non-lethal weapons, excluding disablers and beanbag shotguns
[Security/Command] Disablers
[Security/Bartender] Beanbag shotguns
[Security] Flash technology, excluding handheld flashes
[Security/Science/Command] Handheld flashes
[Security] Helmets and shields
[Security/Command/Bartender] Protective vests and chest rigs
[Security/Command] Restraining gear
[Security/Command] Security HUDs
[Engineering] Engineering goggles
[None] Improvised less lethal and non-lethal weaponry
[None] Unauthorized PDA software
[None] Syndicate clothing
[None] Syndicate equipment, excluding communication equipment
[Security] Syndicate communication equipment

Appendix C: Restricted Weaponry

[Security] Lethal firearms, excluding: syndicate firearms, proto kinetic accelerators, glaives, daggers, crushers, the captain's saber, antique laser guns, and deckards
[Security/Salvage] Proto kinetic accelerators, glaives, daggers, and crushers
[Security/Command] The captain's saber, antique laser guns, and deckards
[Salvage] Seismic charges
[Atmospherics] Fire axes
[None] Syndicate weapons
[None] Explosive devices, excluding seismic charges
[None] Swords
[None] Improvised weaponry, including baseball bats
[None] Lethal implants
[None] Other lethal weapons