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Universal Beginnings of Law

PLAYTEST
This document is in its playtest phase and may be modified without notice based on feedback.

0. Preface

This document provides permissions and prohibitions, expressed as directives, for UIRC Member Collectives to uphold, with intention to uphold inter-cultural civilisation in space.

Referencing this document is to be done via it's accepted abbreviation: UBoL Section X Directive Y

Changes to this document are made with a special majority resolution from the UIRC.

When a directive lists alternatives, these will be separated by /. If other alternatives unlisted are permissible in the location of the alternative listing, the last alternative will be listed as ....

1. Definitions

  1. A sophont[^1] is described as an organic/synthetic/... being that has the following characteristics:
    • Sapience: the entity possesses basic logic and problem-solving skills, or at a minimum some level of significant intelligence; the ability to think, or to act logically.
    • Sentience: the entity has the capacity to process an emotion or lack thereof, or at a minimum the ability to recognise its own pain; the ability to feel, or respond to stimuli.
    • Self-awareness: the entity is capable of altering its behaviour in a reasonable fashion as a result of stimuli, or at a minimum is capable of recognising its own sapience and sentience; the ability to grow and change, or to exhibit neuroplastic-similar behaviour.

CLARIFICATION PENDING LORE INTEGRATION To make this enforceable at all, each UIRC member collective has its own strict and unchanging list of species it considers a Sophont. Within NanoTrasen jurisdiction, this list includes all roundstart-playable species and just those. (Other similarly humanoid species from other servers are acceptable too.) Critters, event spawns, ... are usually not on this list. When in doubt, ahelp about this.

[^1]: Definition of a Sophont taken from Delta-V Standard Operating Procedure, source taken at 13th of May 2024.

  1. A UIRC Member Collective is an organisation/nation/population center/... that has received this status by UIRC normal majority resolution. It is required to possess at least a verified permanent population of 1 billion sophonts.

  2. Law Enforcement Privilege is defined as the privilege to enforce UBoL and local law within a jurisdiction, and is delegated by the controllers of that jurisdiction.

  3. A jurisdiction is an area bound to a planet/station/vessel/... which falls entirely under the nominal control of an organisation. Jurisdiction is additionally extended up to 50 km around the nominal borders of the area the jurisdiction is bound to.

    • Exceptions are made where this stipulation would result in two conflicting jurisdictions for one specific point in space. In this case, jurisdiction shrinks equally towards the anchor point of the jurisdiction for all conflicting parties up to a point where the conflict no longer occurs.

  4. Spacefaring habitation is defined as a station/vessel/... that is capable of, with assistance, moving throughout interstellar space. Additionally, it must be able to house a permanent population of at least one sophont.

2. Local law

  1. Each UIRC Member Collective is permitted to, within its jurisdiction, impose laws that do not violate directives in the Universal Beginnings of Law or the stipulations in the Universal Declaration of Rights.

  2. Each UIRC Member Collective has jurisdiction over all planets/stations/vessels/major population centers it holds nominal control over, and is required to provide law enforcement for these jurisdictions.

  3. Each UIRC Member Collective is permitted to, at will, designate a group of its members as Law Enforcement. These personnel are still bound by UBoL and local law. These personnel may only enforce these laws within the bounds of the jurisdiction of the UIRC Member Collective they belong to.

    • Law Enforcement officers may engage in hot pursuit to effect an arrest for crimes committed within their own jurisdiction, where the suspected offender flees out of this jurisdiction.

3. Spacefaring habitation

  1. Any spacefaring habitation not nominally belonging to a UIRC Member Collective is considered to be independent. Independent spacefaring habitation does not belong to any jurisdiction and overrides any jurisdiction it overlaps with within its physical bounds.

  2. Spacefaring habitation has a Commanding Officer (CO) who represents the UIRC Member Collective on their behalf in the absence of reliable communication to the UIRC Member Collective.

  3. A CO has Captain's Authority within the physical bounds of the vessel he/she/they/it/... commands. Captain's Authority permits a sophont to undertake the following actions, citing this directive, without persecution of UBoL or local law:

    • Approve extrajudicial executions of a member of their crew if the crewmember is posing a clear and present threat to other sophonts on board the spacefaring habitation or is actively attempting to illegally overthrow an established chain of command common to other spacefaring habitation within the same jurisdiction.
    • Command all members of their spacefaring habitation so long as these orders do not conflict with UBoL or local law.
    • The CO is required to perform every reasonable action to ensure the welfare of their crewmembers and visitors on board their spacefaring habitation, up to and including ordering safe evacuation.

  4. A Commanding Officer may legally be dismissed by a superior within the UIRC Member Collective's organisation. The dismissing superior assumes CO status by performing this action.

4. Law enforcement

  1. Sophont individuals who hold Law Enforcement Privilege are allowed to, bound by applicable law, perform investigative actions within their jurisdiction. Investigative actions are defined as follows:

    • Searching: The act of searching one's person or immediate possessions with the intention to find evidence for crime, as defined in local law.
    • Seizing: The act of removing one's possessions without intention to return it, due to the fact that the possessions seized are illegal for the crewmember to have under local law.
    • Detaining: The act of halting a member within jurisdiction who is of interest to an ongoing investigation, or who otherwise is actively displaying criminal offenses by local law.
    • Arresting: The act of stripping a sophont being of their right to free movement, and to house them in a designated area for arrestees and prisoners.

  2. Sophont members with Law Enforcement Privilege may have this privilege revoked by a superior within the UIRC Member Organisation for any reason. This revocation is to be logged with a superior by the revoking party.

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