Talk:Articles of the Federation

Note: The following is a re-interpretation of the Articles of the Federation, as written by "ASmallDuck" and presented by the NascentNovice site. It is presented as a complete Federation Charter, to include the Fundamental Guarantees. It has successfully broken away from being a plagiarized version of the United Nations Charter and would have been included as SFC's version of the document if the original had not already been so heavily incorporated into the framework of the site. It is included here for reference and inspiration.

Charter Preamble

WE HAVE AGREED that our worlds hold these truths to be self-evident: that all intelligent life has inherent dignity and value and so is endowed with certain fundamental and inherent rights.

AND AS THE RECENT CONFLICT has proven the existence of threats to these rights, we have recognized that only through sharing the resources, knowledge and capabilities of our societies can we guarantee the enjoyment of life and liberty and self-actualization to ourselves and our posterity.

AND SO WE, THE INTELLIGENT BEINGS of Earth, Alpha Centauri, Vulcan, Andoria, and Tellar are resolved that henceforth our relations shall be those of worlds which, as sovereign equals, cooperate in friendly association to promote the common welfare, to ensure the rights and responsibilities of Federation citizenship, and therefore are desirous of concluding a federal union of our societies.

AND IN FURTHERANCE OF THIS UNION we have come together to formulate a general law to establish a common justice, to ensure tranquility founded upon the pursuit of peace and durable interstellar law, to unite our strengths in order to provide for common security, and to promote the general welfare and economic and social advancement of all lifeforms.

AND SO IT IS RESOLVED that the respective peoples, through their representatives holding such power, agree to these Fundamental Guarantees and Articles of Federation and do hereby establish an interstellar organization to be known as the UNITED FEDERATION OF PLANETS.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the representatives of these societies so gathered and having valid authority to do so have signed these Articles of Federation.

DONE at the City of San Francisco, Earth on the date 2161 August 12.

Alpha Centauri Concordium

• Zella Cinear
• Jie Cong Li
• Lillian Hayes
• Nasrin Sloane
• Ugo Hadriese

Andorian Empire

• Samiterih Sh’Naazrin
• Anlenthoris Ch’Vendreni
• Ferrinesh Ch’Theru
• Thirjhamel Zh’Dhaven
• Hravishran Th’Zoarhi
• Symo Zh’Rhevoq
• Rol Ch’Therreq
• Athrorel Ch’Arhiavok

Confederacy of Vulcan

• T’Pau
• Soval
• Pekev T’Sri T’Maran
• Solkar
• L’Nel
• T’Imail
• Ugaya T’Pri L’Sprang
• Staam

United Planets of Tellar

• Gora Bim Gral
• Besh Chim Kar
• Coti Jav Granch
• Tishli Prann
• Canniv Bim Vagh
• Ligao Lulansh
• Vaash Bav Jashnoor

United Earth

• Lydia Littlejohn
• Nathan Samuels
• Haroun Al-Rashid
• Thomas Vanderbilt
• Sarah De Los Santos
• Ramya Bandara
• Claire Anthony
• Jonathan Archer

Observers

• Thimur Wross
• Mohammed Khan
• Qaletaqu

Fundamental Guarantees of Freedoms, Rights & Responsibilities

Guarantee 1: Guarantee of Self

• Every sentient being has the right to life, liberty, and security of individuality.

Guarantee 2: Guarantee of Federation citizenship

• Every citizen of a member of the United Federation of Planets shall also be a citizen of the United Federation of Planets.
• Any individual born to a member government of the UFP, is immediately entitled to the rights and responsibilities of Federation citizenship.
• No member state of the United Federation of Planets may, by law or deed, create unequal Federation citizenship among its own citizens.

Guarantee 3: Guarantee of self-expression and speech

• A Federation citizen has a right to self-expression and thoughts, and the right to express them freely without government interference. This right includes the freedom to receive self-expression from others. Both rights imply expression through any form of media, work of art, public declaration, or conversation.
• The threshold for any suppression of speech or self-expression must be extremely high, clearly delineated, and frequently reviewed.

Guarantee 4: Guarantee to freedom of spiritual expression, and from spiritual compellation

• A Federation citizen has the right to religious or spiritual expression.
• A Federation citizen has the freedom from any religious or spiritual compellation.
• No member government may legislate against the free practice of religion, spirituality, or faith. No member government may promote or encourage any particular practice of religion, spirituality, or faith. No member government may prioritize the religious above the irreligious, or vice versa.

Guarantee 5: Guarantee from Want

• The United Federation of Planets guarantees a basic subsistence of dignity to any and all Federation citizens. This is taken to mean a standard of living commensurate with the level of health, well-being, and satisfaction of the individual. This is taken to include, but not be limited to, nutrition, clothing, shelter, means of production or creation, and healthcare.

• Any member government of the United Federation of Planets shall endeavor to provide this minimum to any Federation citizen within their area of Federation space and the United Federation of Planets government shall endeavor to provide this minimum to any Federation citizen, regardless of location.

• If an individual planetary government is unable to complete this Guarantee, due to emergency or disaster, it is assumed the United Federation of Planets government shall endeavor to honor this right, at minimum.

• This guarantee is not meant to indicate the maximum level of support that organizations of the United Federation of Planets should strive to provide.

Guarantee 6: Guarantee from Terror

• A Federation citizen is to expect their lives to be free of terror.
• A Federation citizen is free from the assumption their government will court war with another power for the purposes of territorial gain, personal interest, or to increase violence in the quadrant.
• A Federation citizen is free from the assumption that their government shall use terror to compel behavior of them, or others.

Guarantee 7: Guarantee of Due Process under the Law

• A Federation citizen is guaranteed any and all due process under Federation law.
• A Federation citizen may not be used to incriminate themselves, by thought, word, or deed.
• A Federation citizen may not be submitted to arbitrary, or personal legal action brought by the state without due process.

Guarantee 8: Guarantee from Killing and Compelled Violence

• A Federation citizen may not be compelled to commit an act of violence without their free consent, by the government of the United Federation of Planets or any other member state government.
• A Federation citizen shall never be required to kill without their free consent.
• A Federation citizen who chooses to refuse member state compulsory military service during a time of war or other military action may do so through this Guarantee. No fee, penalty, or confinement may be levied against a Federation citizen for doing so.

Guarantee 9: Guarantee of Exceptional Legal Scrutiny

• Any law or act of the Federation Council, or any succeeding governmental body, that seeks to curtail or diminish these articulated “Fundamental Guarantees” must survive the highest conceivable bar of legal scrutiny by the Federation Judicial Council, in three consecutive sittings. If at such a time, these criteria are met, then amendment to these rights shall be allowed.
• The adoption of new Guarantees that expand rights, and in no way curtail those already present, may be adopted utilizing the same procedure. It is to be understood that this guarantee protects existing rights; they are not to be used to prohibit further rights.
• To abridge, through statute or tradition, any such right must only come through the highest level of legal scrutiny and be directly involved in criminal or negligent behavior that endangers Federation citizens.

Guarantee 10: Guarantee of Democratic Political Legitimacy

• Any political legitimacy imbued within the United Federation of Planets, and any subsidiary governmental bodies, is guaranteed to be based in popular, explicit, and implicit consent of the governed.

• This consent is to be understood as civil legitimacy, accountable to, but not limited to, democratic elections, financial, philosophical, and stake-holder transparency, recusal of perceived or actual corruption, and continual appraisal of perceived legitimacy.

• A Federation citizen, or group of citizens, is guaranteed the right to petition the government, and any subsidiary governmental bodies, of the United Federation of Planets for redress to any lack of legitimacy and is guaranteed a reasonable response to any such petition.

Articles of the United Federation of Planets

We, the Heads of State and Governments of the Member States of the United Federation of Planets:

Inspired by those ideals of dignity, justice, peace, and progress, form this union to promote interplanetary unity, to reaffirm fundamental sentient rights, and to guarantee a set of rights to every Federation citizen. And to this end, to practice tolerance and live together in peace as good neighbors and to unite to maintain peace and security, to employ our diverse talents and cultures to mutual benefit and progress for all Federation citizens

HAVE RESOLVED TO EMPLOY OUR DIVERSE SOCIETIES AND CULTURES TO ACCOMPLISH THESE AIMS:

Chapter 1: Purposes and Principles of the United Planets of the Federation

Article 1: Principles of the United Federation of Planets

The United Federation of Planets is a voluntary organization of combined values, intentions, and goals. The United Federation of Planets and its Members, in pursuance of the purposes so stated, shall act in accordance with the following principles:

• The United Federation of Planets is based on the equality of all its Members.

• In order to ensure all Members the rights and benefits resulting from membership, all Members shall in good faith fulfill all obligations assumed by them in accordance with these Articles of Federation and all duly adopted rulings, charters, and decisions created by this Federation;

• All Members shall settle all interplanetary disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that interstellar peace, security, and justice are not endangered;

• In all interplanetary relations, all Members shall refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any society within or without this Federation, and refrain from any acts in any manner inconsistent with the purpose of the United Federation of Planets.

• All Members shall give the United Federation of Planets every assistance in any actions taken in accordance with these Articles of Federation, and shall refrain from assisting any group against which the Federation is taking preventative or enforcement action, within or without;

• Nothing within these Articles of Federation authorizes the Federation to intervene in matters which are essentially within the purely domestic jurisdiction of a nation or planetary system, nor shall anything require Members to submit such matters to settlement under these Articles of Federation; but this principle does not prejudice the application of enforcement measures under said Articles or any action that infringes upon a Fundamental Guarantee of Federation Citizenship.

Article 2: Purposes of the United Federation of Planets

The purposes of the United Federation of Planets are:

• To maintain interplanetary and interstellar peace and security within our acknowledged and accepted borders, and to that end: to take collective measures for the prevention of threats to such peace, to suppress acts of aggression, and to bring about by peaceful means and employing the principles of justice and interstellar law an adjustment or settlement of any interplanetary disputes which might lead to a breach of the interstellar peace;

• To improve the lives of Federation citizens through diligent work and open governmental action;

• To develop friendly relations among planets and species based on respect for the principles of the equal rights and self-determination of all intelligent lifeforms, and to take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace;

• To achieve interplanetary cooperation in solving interstellar problems of economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character; in promoting and encouraging respect for the rights of all intelligent lifeforms; and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to culture, sex, gender, disability, caste, species, or spiritual belief; and

• To be a place of coordination for the actions of all peoples in the attainment of these common ends.

Article 3: Temporary Arrangements

Before the implementation of this Federation, including during the transitory period between coming into force and the full establishment of this Federation such that its agencies and organs may fulfill the duties for which they were created, nothing in these Articles shall bind Members from taking joint actions to maintain interplanetary and interstellar peace and security.

Until such a time as an election for The President of the Council of the United Federation of Planets may be held, not to be longer than four years after the signing of these Articles of Federation, there shall be a caretaker official appointed by the unanimous consent of the inaugural membership of the Federation Council. In all ways this official shall act as The President of the Council of the United Federation of Planets.

Article 4 – Process of Ratification for the Articles and their Coming into Force

These Articles of Federation shall be ratified by each signatory in accordance with their respective statutory processes, and each signatory shall notify the Foreign Minister of United Earth. Upon receipt of a ratification, the government of United Earth shall record it and maintain such a record. United Earth shall notify all signatory governments of each deposit as well as the Secretariat of the Federation. After the Federation comes into force, the United Earth commission for this purpose shall be replaced by a commission under the Secretariat of the Federation.

Chapter 2: Membership

Article 5 – Member States of the United Federation of Planets

The United Federation of Planets consists of the following member states:

• The Alpha Centauri Concordium
• The Andorian Empire
• The Confederacy of Vulcan
• United Earth
• The United Planets of Tellar.

Article 6 – Member State Internal Changes

Changes to the internal organization of Members of the United Federation of Planets will abide by the following:

1. If the naming convention of a member state is changed, though the government has not sufficiently changed in nature, a simple amendment may be used to update their governmental designation.
2. If the substance of a member state government has changed sufficiently for the Federation Council to deem it a “new state”, then a full vote of the Federation Council must pass in order for the member state to remain.
3. The Federation Council may choose to suspend the rights and privileges of membership in the United Federation of Planets for any Member of the United Federation of Planets against which the Federation Council has chosen to take enforcement action against. These rights may be later restored by the Federation Council.
4. Notwithstanding this, no one may deny any Member of the United Federation of Planets its right to speak in the Federation Council.

Article 7 – Admission of New Members

The United Federation of Planets shall admit new members through the following process:

1. Application to the United Federation of Planets is available to any and all governmental bodies that apply.
2. Application for membership shall be directed to the Federation Council, or any body appointed by Council law to do so.
3. Eligibility requirements for admission to the United Federation of Planets remains in the sole purview of the Federation Council, or any body appointed by Council law to do so.
4. Admission shall be considered of any government that meets the criteria outlined in Articles 7, 8, and 9. This new member shall be nominated by an existing Federation member government, and voted upon by the Federation Council. Admission shall be granted if more than 70% of the councilors vote in the affirmative. This 70% margin shall be superseded by the voting formula present below, if necessary to make the process more streamlined. (See Appendix K: Article 7 voting criteria, 5-100 members)
5. A single Federation Councilor may veto admission for two successive sessions. If a vote for admission in a third session passes through the process outlined in Article 7 or 8, the veto shall be overridden.
6. All measurements or time indicated in any article regarding to admission shall be regulated by Federation Standards. Federation Standards shall be defined by the Federation Standards Committee. The Federation Standards Committee shall be created, determined, and decisions ratified by a simple majority vote of the Federation Council.

Article 8 – Association, or Provisional, Membership

Any governmental body that wishes to join the United Federation of Planets but does not immediately meet any of the requirements may join as an “Associated Member” by a majority vote of the Federation Council.

1. Membership in the United Federation of Planets is also open to any peaceful society which accept the obligations contained within these Articles of Federation and, in the judgment of this Federation capable and willing to carry out these obligations;
2. Such governments should be considered in good standing with the United Federation of Planets, and member governments of the UFP shall treat these governments as allies and friends.
3. Within a session of the Federation Council, the Federation Membership Council shall send a delegation to this government to determine their suitability for membership and develop a criteria for full membership.

Article 9 – Secession, or Removal, from Membership

Member states of the United Federation of Planets may secede or be removed from the UFP, at any time, under the following procedures:

1. Articles of secession will be admitted to the Federation Council, during an open session. These articles shall be recorded at time of submission.
2. The member state government shall relinquish any, and all, legal rights to Federation legal assets, upon this admission. Adjudication of Federation assets shall be completed by the Federation Judicial Council prior to any legal succession.
3. The member state may retain treaties, alliances, or rights outside their Federation membership, unless otherwise decided by the articles of secession or act of the Federation Council.
4. All individuals previously known as Federation citizens shall retain such citizenship within the Federation, until such a time that they renounce such citizenship.
5. Illegal secession from the Federation forgoes such rights for the secessionist government.
6. Any Member of the United Federation of Planets which has persistently and willfully violated the purposes and principles contained in these Articles of Federation may be expelled from this Federation by the Federation Council.

Article 10 – Designation of Federation Space

Federation Space shall refer to the area of space claimed by and conforming to the protections, rights, and responsibilities found within this charter. This space shall be defined by the Federation Council and may be amended by the Federation Council by a majority vote. As a minimum immediate designation, Federation Space shall be understood to include all space within 100 FAU from any member states’ home star or stars.

1. Also understood as Federation Space shall include all space within 100 FAU from any colony system claimed and protected by a member state.
2. Territory within Federation space but within planetary orbits shall be considered the legal jurisdiction of member planets for legal purposes.
3. Any change or redesignation of this definition of space shall be decided by the Federation Council, in consultation with the Federation Standards Committee