Space Law

Space Law

Space Law is the name given for the laws that most governments have agreed should apply in the reaches of space outside of any Government's territory. Although they may differ from ship to ship and station to station - eg, a Unathi ship often allows ritual combat.

The set here are the ones NT has in place on the station, and are approved by all major Governments.

They apply for all NT employees and authorised visitors of the station. Anyone aboard the station legally is both protected by and expected to follow them.

The only exception is embassies - they are considered the territory of the government of that race, and their law applies there.

Great cases of RP may excuse this. Adminhelp if you wish to intentionally break these. Just remember, you will get fired for it if you can't cover it up. The threat of a ban still applies.

Interpretation of the Law

A good working knowledge of Space Law is important for any person on the station. It can be the difference between a shiny pair of handcuffs and sipping drinks in the bar. More in-depth interpretations of Space Law are required for such positions as the Warden, Head of Personnel, Captain, and the Head of Security.

For certain crimes, the accused's intent is important. The difference between 'assault' and 'attempted murder' can be very hard to ascertain. It is important to note though, that 'assault' and 'attempted murder' are mutually exclusive. You cannot be charged with 'assault' and 'attempted murder' from the same crime as the intent of each is different. Likewise, 'assault with a deadly weapon' and 'assaulting an officer' are also crimes that exclude others. Pay careful attention to the requirements of each law and select the one that best fits the crime when deciding sentence.

In the case of violent crimes (assault, manslaughter, attempted murder and murder), and theft (petty, pickpocketing, and high value) take only the most severe.

A single incident has a single sentence, so if, for instance, the prisoner took 3 items off someone, this is a single count of pickpocketing.

Keep in mind that people that cause major mayhem (and potentially any other criminals) have probably committed more than one crime. Trespassing+Theft often apply like this. Add the time for each case together. However, you cannot be charged for assault and murder of the same person, nor trespassing and infiltration. If multiple crimes in the same vein apply, use the highest.

If in doubt, adminhelp to ask, and/or consult your superiors.

Aiding a criminal makes you an accomplice; you can be charged with the same crime as the person you aided.

As an arresting officer, follow standard security procedures, to ensure you don't fall foul of legal proceedings.

Additional

The Captain is not above Space Law, and can be arrested by Security for breaking it. The only time that Space Law can be overridden is when there is an imminent and overwhelming threat to the station.

Pardons are only legitimate if they come from a NanoTrasen higher-up (that is, someone who ranks above the Captain). Despite his high ranking, the Captain cannot spit in the face of Space Law, and any attempts to do so are crimes.

If you can't find the crime listed in here you can set up a tribunal. See Legal Standard Operating Procedure.

Tribunals should be held in place of hearings or trials, see Legal Standard Operating Procedure. Trials by jury are not legal.

Do NOT demand a tribunal for anything less than 10 minutes. You'll just be laughed at. Even a medium crime will rarely be worth a tribunal.

The time you took for bringing the suspect in and the time you spend questioning are NOT to be calculated into this. This is the pure time someone spends in a cell staring at the wall.

Minor crimes

These crimes carry standard punishments of up to 7 minutes, and can be set with an officer's discretion. 'Suggested Sentence' values are beside the crimes. 'Additional Penalties' can be decided by authorisation of Captain, Head of Security, or equivalent, and do not require tribunals.

No.	Crime	Description	Notes	Suggested Sentence	Additional Penalties
101	Trespassing	To be in an area which a person does not have access to.	Remember that people can either break in, sneak in, or be let in. Always check that the suspect wasn't let in to do a job by someone with access, or were given access on their ID. Trespassing and theft often committed together; both sentences should be applied. Severity is increased if they refuse to leave the area peacefully, more so if they attempt to use important equipment there, so feel free to add other charges if they do.	3 minutes.	Up to 10 minutes. Demotion.
102	Petty Theft	To take items from areas one does not have access to, or to take items belonging to others or the station as a whole.	Keeping items which are in short supply where they belong is what is important here. A doctor who takes all the surgical tools and hides them still commits theft, even though he had access. Items can include anything from toolboxes to metal to the HoP's hat. Remember to take the items away from them and return them to where they stole them. Weapons, Plasma Tanks, etc, come under grand theft.	3 minutes, returning of stolen item to the owner or department.	Up to 10 minutes. Demotion.
103	Minor Assault	To use, or threaten, physical force against someone, without intent to kill or seriously injure.	If it causes minor damage and easily treatable damage, it's minor assault. Starting fights with other employees or punching fellow employees counts too, as well as seriously threatening them with it. Excessive force on security's part can also fall under this.	4 minutes.	Up to 10 minutes. Demotion.
104	Battery	To have unwanted physical contact with someone, even where the contact is not violent.	Bumping into someone in a corridor doesn't really count. Touching someone, when they have explicitly told you not to, does. Pushing/Disarming is covered here.	2 minutes.	Up to 8 minutes. Demotion.
105	Indecent Exposure or Hooliganism	To be intentionally and publicly unclothed, yelling at people for no reason (don't arrest someone because they are arguing), throwing around stuff where it could hit someone, yelling about how terrible NanoTrasen is, etc.	Running around the station naked or in underwear, or other such degrading activities. Drunks can be keep to sober up, but only if they are badly harassing other crew members. Regular drunks don't get arrested and if they are only a nuisance you keep them for the regular time. The mutual degradation of chasing a naked man down while he screams rape is only worth it on slow rounds.	5 minutes.	Up to 8 minutes. Demotion.
106	Suspicious Conduct	To possess a suspiciously wide skill set, not indicated in employee record, wielding dangerous weapons near other staff, extensive inquiring about critical areas, or stalking other employees.	Basically, metagamey/powergamey behaviour. It's worth reporting to the Head of Personnel or your Head of Staff if you want to play a character who knows more than they should. This is often a holding charge so someone can be searched, or taken away before a situation can escalate.	2 minutes. Immediate search.	Forced psychiatric examination. Tracking implant. Detaining for the duration of investigation.
107	Misuse of Public Radio Channels	To continually broadcast unimportant, untrue, or insignificant messages on the public radio frequency.	This is really only for people who are constantly spamming the radio, such as 'DJs' or Chaplains reading their services over the comms. Screaming fake messages like "halp security is beating me" when they aren't also counts.	3 minutes.	Forced psychiatric examination. Ban from using any radio equipment (Injuction).
108	Violation of Injunction	To violate the terms of an injuction made by Security or other legal professions.	Injunctions can be filed for lots of different things, such as a ban on weapons carrying, or the above radio ban. They can be applied by the Head of Security, Captain, or equivalent. If they break the law in some other way, apply that sentence too.	5 minutes.	Up to 10 minutes.
109	Insulting an Officer on Duty	To excessively insult a Head of Staff or member of Security with no valid complaints.	This is most likely to happen when someone is being fired, or when being arrested. This is really for when they're being extremely annoying and vocal. Being continually rude to your superiors also counts, if they complain too often. Calling security shitcurity is not illegal. Screaming that an officer is a fucking idiot, especially repeatedly, is. Also see misuse of radio.	5 minutes.	Up to 15 minutes. Demotion.
110	Slander	To spread false rumours in order to damage someone's reputation.	Lying about anything to make someone else look bad. For example, an engineer trying to pass off the blame of letting the singularity loose to someone else. Since this has to be proven, it's up to a tribunal or appropriate officer.	-	Up to 5 minutes.
111	Failure to Execute an Order	To ignore or disregard a superior's valid orders.	If the order is stupid, or causes you to break a law (e.g. "Release the singularity!" or "Steal that RCD for me!") you can ignore it, and probably make a complaint. However, if it's perfectly doable, lawful, and in your job description, you better do it or resign. If not following an order caused severe damage or loss of life, see "Failure to Execute an Order with Serious Consequences".	5 minutes.	Up to 15 minutes. Demotion.
112	Sexual Harassment	To make unwanted sexual advances or obscene remarks towards another employee.	This is for VERY MINOR things the other person finds offensive that are sexually related. For anything more serious see "Sexual Assault".	5 minutes.	Up to 15 minutes. Demotion.
113	Animal Cruelty	To inflict unnecessary suffering or harm upon animals with malicious intent.	Monkeys appropriately used for experiments or well-being (e.g Genetics, Virology, etc.) don't count. Shoving them in washing machines, or throwing them down disposals while still alive falls under this. Using them as food is fine - but they must be killed humanely.	5 minutes	Up to 15 minutes. Demotion.
114	Vandalism	To deliberately damage or deface the station without malicious intent.	This can range from a minor hull breach, to drawing on the floor with crayons or other substances. You can adjust the time accordingly.	5 minutes	Up to 10 minutes. Demotion.
115	Threat of Murder or Serious Injury	To threaten to kill or seriously injure an employee.	The threat has to somewhat tangible. If it's just people arguing over the radio, it's probably not worth it. Someone shouting at someone else while chasing them with a fire extinguisher is probably more valid.	2 minutes. Tracking implant.	Up to 10 minutes with psychiatric evaluation.
116	Disrespect to the Dead	To abuse bodies of dead or previously dead employees.	Examples include, the chef using bodies in the morgue as meat, Security beating on a prisoners corpse, or using someone's body for 'experimental surgery'. Preventing a body from being cloned or cyborged also falls under this. Consent is not implied - it must be given in writing.	5 minutes	Up to 10 minutes.

Medium crimes

These crimes carry standard punishments of up to 30 minutes, though typically around 10-15 minutes, and can be set with an officer's discretion. 'Suggested Sentence' values are beside the crimes. 'Additional Penalties' can be decided by authorisation of Captain, Head of Security, or equivalent, and do not require tribunals.

No.	Crime	Description	Notes	Suggested Sentence	Additional Penalties
201	Failure to Execute an Order with Serious Consequences	To ignore or disregard a superior's valid orders, which then causes serious damage to property or life.	Like the minor crime, except this one has caused serious damage to the station, or seriously injured someone. Examples are Medical Doctors ignoring the Chief Medical Officer while patients are piling up in medbay, or Engineers ignoring the Chief Engineer and then having the singularity eat part of the station. If this causes loss of life, refer to 302.	15 minutes.	Demotion. Life sentence.
202	Resisting Arrest or Sparking a Manhunt	To not cooperate with an officer who attempts a proper arrest, or to cause a manhunt by hiding from security.	Refusing handcuffs is not resisting arrest. Pushing the officer trying to arrest you, or running away falls under this.	10 minutes.	Up to 15 minutes in brig.
203	Suicide Attempt	To attempt or threaten to commit suicide.	An employee trying or threatening to kill himself for any reason. This includes someone saying "AI OPEN THIS DOOR OR I KILL MYSELF".	Compulsory psychiatric examination.	Demotion. Isolation in holding facility.
204	Abuse of Confiscated Equipment	To take and use equipment confiscated as evidence.	Security shouldn't be using evidence for anything but evidence.	10 minutes, re-confiscation of equipment.	Demotion.
205	Illegal Detention, Arrest, or Holding	To arrest, brig, or punish an employee without proper cause or reason.	This is mainly for Security Officers who believe THEY ARE THE LAW. Does not apply if the officer was ordered to do so.	15 minutes	Demotion.
206	Neglect of Duty	To fail to perform a job to a satisfactory standard.	This can be due to honest, or dishonest mistakes. Examples include scientists/engineers releasing plasma, doctors mixing up medicines that cause injury to patients, or the Chief Engineer allowing the singularity to escape.	10 minutes	Demotion.
207	Infiltration	To attempt to, or successfully, enter a high-security area without authorisation.	This includes places like the Bridge, AI upload or core, Teleporter, EVA, Captains Office, Atmospherics, or the offices of a Head. Trying to break into the vault with the nuclear warhead is also very bad. Using AI or Cyborg help for infiltration purposes is also considered breaking and entering.	15 minutes	Imprisonment, up to lifelong.
208	Assault	To cause serious harm to another employee	Anything beyond a few punches like in "Minor Assault". Generally with a weapon, although a severe enough beating with fists counts. Can be adjusted for severity. Also see "Attempted Murder" if the intent was to kill. This also includes poisoning with drugs, or using hallucinogens.	20 minutes.	Up to 40 minutes. Demotion.
209	Escaping From Confinement	To escape from confinement as someone who is serving a non-life sentence or is imprisoned before judgement.	See "Escaping From a Life Sentence" for those who do it with life sentences.	10 minutes.	Up to 30 minutes. Demotion.
210	Unlawful Modification of AI/Cyborg Laws	To modify the laws of a cyborg or artificial intelligence, without need, proper access, or authority.	An exception would be a law reset when obviously harmful laws have been uploaded. Only the Captain, Research Director, Chief Engineer, or Two Heads of Staff can authorise a law change.	20 minutes	Demotion. Lifelong detention.
211	Sedition	To incite rebellion, or rally against the established chain of command.	This includes attempting to make separate areas of the ship into "Nations" or generally conspiring against the chain of command. Burning NT flags counts as Sedition. For violent incidents, see mutiny.	15 minutes	Demotion. Lifelong detention.
212	Contraband	To possess, use, or distribute contraband items, including drugs.	Chemists and Botanists are allowed to possess drugs for their line of work. It's a crime if they distribute or use it however. Also see Identifying Syndicate Items for a list of who knows what. Contraband from the Supply Shuttle also counts. This also includes firearms, such as the barman taking their shotgun outside the bar area, or illegal modification of such firearms.	15 minutes, confiscation of said items	Up to 20 minutes. Demotion.
213	Sabotage	To hinder the efforts of the crew or station with malicious intent.	This includes causing hull breaches, sabotaging air supplies, stealing/damaging vital equipment, etc. The intent is probably the most important bit here. You cannot accidentally sabotage - see neglect of duty.	20 minutes	Demotion. Up to 40 minutes in brig.
214	Exceeding Official Powers	To act beyond what is allowed by the Chain of Command.	This is for any head of staff who abuses the power given to them, such as the Head of Personnel acting like a security officer in a non-emergency, the captain acting as if he is above the law, etc. Heads of Staff trying to order a different department or ignoring the captain also comes under this. Also covers anyone illegally promoting themselves, such as with a stolen ID.	15 minutes	Demotion. Demotion. Up to 30 minutes in brig.
215	Grand Theft	To steal or posess items that are dangerous, of a high value, or a sensitive nature that you do not have access to.	This means potential Lethal weapons, explosives, or ammunition, and also includes items from the High-risk Items page. Security Officers stealing things from the armoury is an example.	15 minutes, confiscation of stolen items.	Demotion. Brig sentence up to life-long.
216	Organising a Breakout	To attempt, or succeed, in freeing criminals from the brig or other holding areas.	Breaking brig windows	15 minutes.	Up to 30 minutes
217	Illegal Blocking of Areas	To make an area inaccessible for those with appropriate access.	Bolting doors in public hallways or to those of departments you don't have control over are examples of this.	10 minutes	Up to 25 minutes, demotion
218	Fatal Use of Excessive Force	To commit murder in defence of yourself or others, or killing a suspect while attempting to detain them.	Killing someone attacking you or others with no obvious threat to life, or panicking and shooting a suspect dead.	10 minutes	Up to 30 minutes. Demotion.

Major Crimes

These crimes MUST be ruled on by a hearing as in Legal Standard Operating Procedure, and criminals should be held until judgement can be passed.

No.	Crime	Description	Notes	Sentence	Judgements
301	Murder	To unlawfully kill someone, or attempt to kill someone, with premeditated malicious intent.	Also cover Attempted Murder. The premeditated and malicious bit is important here.	Holding until judgement.	Life sentence. Execution.
302	Manslaughter	To kill someone without malice or forethought.	This includes causing death due to negligence or dereliction of duty. Can also be used for excessive self-defence.	20 minutes.	30 minutes.
303	Mutiny	To openly rebel against or attempt to remove command staff with violent intent.	See "Sedition" for less violent mutineers.	Loyalty implant. Holding until judgement.	Life sentence. Execution.
304	Grand Sabotage	To engage in maliciously destructive actions, which seriously threaten the crew or station.	This includes deliberate arson, hostage taking, use of bombs, release of singularity, etc.	Holding until judgement.	Life sentence. Execution.
305	Assaulting a Head of Staff	To assault a Head of Staff, causing severe damage.	Exactly like "Assault", but this time against a Head of Staff.	30 minutes, tracking implant.	Life sentence. Execution.
306	Escaping From a Life Sentence	To escape, or attempt to escape, from the brig or other holding area when serving a life sentence.	They have to have been properly convicted for it to be a life sentence.	Loyalty Implanting, tracking implant.	Execution.
307	Terrorist Collaboration	To act as an agent of a terrorist or anti-Corporation group.	Espionage, disclosure of corporate secrets, or any other assistance rendered to outside hostile organisations, or their representatives in hostile activities to the Corporation, committed by a employee of Corporation. As a high crime, suspected terrorist agents must be put through a tribunal unless their level of resistance renders capture efforts infeasible. Lawful executions must be authorized by the Captain following a guilty verdict from a tribunal, and summary execution without tribunal may only be used in instances of outright armed hostilities such as a boarding party or aggressive terrorist-armed individual, again pending the Captain's authorization. Being in possession of known terrorist items may lend more evidence to this charge.	Holding until judgement.	Execution.
308	Sexual Assault	To assault, or attempt to assault, someone else sexually, including rape.	ERP scenes, or erotic roleplay, is a permabannable offence. Adminhelp it if this happens to you; it's against server rules, not just station rules.	30 minutes, tracking implant.	Life sentence. Execution.

Modifiers & Special Situations

Situation	Description	Benefit
Surrender	Coming to the brig, confessing what you've done and taking the punishment. Getting arrested without putting a fuss is not surrender. For this, you have to actually come to the brig yourself.	Up to -25%, and should be taken into account when the choice between life in a secure cell, execution, and cyborgification is made.
Re-education	Getting de-converted from revolutionary.	Up to and including immediate release
Cooperation with prosecution or security	Being helpful to the members of security, revealing things during questioning or providing names of head revolutionaries.	Up to -25%. In the case of revealing a head revolutionary, up to -50%.
Immediate threat to the prisoner	The singularity eats something near the brig, an explosion goes off, etc.	Officer must relocate the prisoner(s) to a safe location. Otherwise, immediate release. Life sentences must be reapplied after danger has passed.
Medical reasons	Prisoners are entitled to medical attention if sick or injured.	Medical personnel can be called, or the prisoner can be escorted to the Medbay. The timer continues to run during this time.
Self Defence	Assault and even homicide can be justified if it was necessary for prevention of loss of life. (Note that there are borders of acceptable self-defence, and killing a man who just punched you is subject to "Fatal Use of Excessive Force")	Up to and including immediate release.

Commentaries and Clarifications.

Dismissal: Changing ID title to "Dismissed", zero access.

Loyalty Implants: Can be applied instead of permabrigging or execution. For any lesser charge, consent is required.

Demotion: Can be done up to and including Assistant position, by Head of Personnel or Captain's decision.

Employee: Employee of NanoTrasen, as defined by the station's commanding officer.

Execution: Can be done ONLY by electric chair, firing squad, or lethal injection. Other types are illegal unless the prisoner requests them. Cyborgification is also a viable option, and should be used if prisoners behave, or if they appeal.

Head of Staff: Crew members occupying one of the following positions: Captain, Chief Engineer, Head of Personnel, Head of Security, Chief Medical Officer, Research Director.

Empowering: Illegal acquiring (not via Head of Personnel or Captain) of access.

Repeat Offenders: For repeat offenders, you may double the sentences listed here.

Demotion and dismissal also require the removal of equipment from the previous job. E.g: Uniforms, weapons, bombs, PDA cartridges, etc.

For the purposes of Cyborg/AI laws, crewmembers that have been convicted, or are being held in detention, are considered to be below even the AI/Cyborgs in terms of rank.

Serving sentence in jail can be replaced with forced labour in some cases - the HoS/Captain has discretion here, and should never be done for minor crimes.

In cases where the final sentence is more than 60 minutes, it is changed to a life sentence.

The standard penalty can be applied without a tribunal by Security Officers.

Penalties, listed here are guidelines. Tribunals can assign lesser or higher ones, depending on circumstances. Courtesy of Zlofenix Station 13