Space Law

Space Law is a collection of rules and regulations enacted by Nanotrasen which has oversight through CentCom and is enforced by the Sec Officers on the vessel. Space Law applies to all ranks and positions on vessel, from the lowliest Assistant to the highest Captain, all are equal under the eyes of the Law and ultimately answer to her.

The rules and regulations herein are not absolutes, instead they exist to serve mainly as guidelines for the law and order of the dynamic situations that exist for vessels on the frontiers of space, as such some leeway is permitted.

Crime Codes Quick Reference

Use this to quickly find the Crime Code Numbers.

Crime codes are made up of Category Codes (_xx), which are a collection of similar crimes on a line for ease of use, prefixed by the Severity Number (X__).

Additionally, certain modifiers might affect the punishment, they are to be appendixed as follows:

The Severity Modifier is appended at the end of the crime code number as follows: XXX-_. It only gets applied during martial law, and as such may be highly situational, as no emergency is the same.

The Sentence modifiers are shown in the rightmost column, they are to be appended to the right of the severity modifier as follows: XXX-S_

REMEMBER:

MARTIAL LAW MODIFIERS DO NOT SHOW YOU WHAT YOU MUST DO, THEY SHOW YOU WHAT YOU CAN DO.

It would be unreasonable to permanently imprison every person not on gauss because the captain ordered gauss to be manned, use your head.

Interpretation of the Law

A good working knowledge of Space Law is important for any person on the vessel. It can be the difference between a shiny pair of handcuffs and sipping Gargle Blasters in the bar. More in depth interpretations of space law are required for such positions as the Staff Judge Advocate, Warden, HoP, and the HoS. While it is unlikely that the officers will listen particularly closely to your protevessels, it may be enough to lighten your sentence and avoid ill treatment by the MP.

For certain crimes, the accused's intent is important. The difference between Murder and Manslaughter can be very hard to ascertain, and you should default to the less severe one. Additionally, "stacking" of sentences is not allowed, and only the sentence of the most severe crime is to be applied.

A single incident has a single sentence, so if, for instance, the prisoner took three items off of someone, this is a single count of pick-pocketing, if they pick-pocketed two people this would be two separate counts of pick-pocketing, and so on.

Aiding a criminal makes you an accomplice; you can be charged with the same crime as the person you aided as per sentence modifier H: Aiding and Abetting.

Always remember, if you're unsure, go with the most lenient option. Being lenient when reasonable is a powerful tool for security, it helps greatly to have a cooperative crew on your side. You're all in this together after all.

Brig Procedures

Standard Operational Procedures for brigging are as follows:

1. Take the prisoner to the brig and inform the Warden of their crimes so their Security Record may be updated.
2. Hold the prisoner over one of the genpop lockers, and empty their inventory into it.
3. Search the items removed and be sure to check the internals box in their backpack.
4. Confiscate any contraband and/or stolen items, as well as any tools that may be used for future crimes.
   These are to be placed in evidence, not left on the brig floor or your personal use, until they can be returned to their rightful owners.
5. Enter their crime into the genpop interface on the wall and receive their prisoner ID card.
6. Close and lock their locker with their ID card.
7. Put the ID card on the prisoners ID card slot, and move them into the cell.
8. Uncuff, stun them if they pose a danger still.
9. Take the cuffs with you, and leave the prisoner to their sentence.
10. Modify their brig sentence for additional offences or good behavior, if applicable.

Do NOT fully strip the prisoner unless they have earned a permanent sentence.

The Warden or Head of Security are responsible for placing prisoners and in permanent confinement.

1. Permanent Prisoners are to be completely stripped of their belongings, which are to be held in either evidence or a prison locker.
2. The prisoner is to be dressed in an Orange Prison Jumpsuit and Shoes, which are found in the prison lockers.
3. Permanent Prisoners are not permitted to possess any personal belongings whilst they are incarcerated in the Prison Wing.

Legal Representation and Trials

Prisoners are permitted to seek legal representation on permanent sentences, you must take steps to provide this if possible.

Staff Judge Advocates, and by extension the Executive Officer/Captain, exist to serve as a guiding hand and the voice of reason within the judicial process, however they have zero authority over the brig, security personnel, prisoners, or sentencing.

The Staff Judge Advocates' security headset is a privilege not a right. Security personnel are under no requirement to listen to them and security channel abuse is to result in that privilege being revoked.

• If the Staff Judge Advocate continuously acts as a disruptive influence Security are fully permitted to confiscate their access, remove them from the brig and bar their future access to it.

In instances where a conflict of opinion arises over the sentence of a prisoner the chain of command must be followed. This goes along the usual rank hierarchy.

Trials are not to be performed for Timed Sentences. This is mainly for the benefit of the accused as trials will often run many times the length of the actual sentence.

• Trials may be performed for Capital Crimes and Permanent Detention, however there is no requirement to hold them. Forensic Evidence, Witness Testimony, or Confessions are all that is required for the Head of Security, Warden or Captain to authorize their sentence.

In cases where the Death Penalty is desired but the Captain or Acting-Captain is unable or unwilling to authorize the execution a trial is required to authorise the death penalty.

Use of Deadly Force

As a member of the vessels Security force you are one of the best armed and protected people on the vessel, equipped with the almost latest in non-lethal takedown technology.

It is for this reason that the situations that warrant the use of Deadly Force are few and far between, in the grand majority of circumstances you will be expected to use your stun weapons, which indeed are many times more effective than lethal options, to diffuse a situation.

There are a few circumstances where deadly force is permissible:

• General Quarters / Martial Law - situations which endanger the wellbeing of the vessel, such as any crime with the X Severity modifier, or the presence of highly dangerous adversaries such as Nuclear Operatives or a Space Wizard, authorise lethal force to be used if needed.
  • A single shove does not constitute assault, not on an officer nor on anyone else. If you kill someone because of a single shove, be prepared to spend some time in the brig yourself, because you just committed manslaughter.

• Non-Lethal Weapons Ineffective - certain targets are impervious to NLWs, such as Mechs, Xenomorphs, Borgs, and Hulks. Lethal force may be used against these targets if they prove hostile.

• Severe Personal Risk - sometimes getting close enough to a target to slap the cuffs on will create significant personal risk to the Officer. Deadly force from range is recommended to subdue Wizards and Changelings.
  • Criminals in hostile environments such as space, fire, or plasma leaks also fall into this category, as do criminals believed to be in possession of high explosives. Ranged lethal force is the only reasonable option in these conditions.

• Armed and Dangerous - if a suspect is in possession of weapons, including stun weapons, and you have reasonable suspicion that they will use these against you, lethal force is permitted. Although in the majority of cases it is still preferable to attempt to detain them non-lethally.
  • Unauthorized personnel in the armory are considered by default to be Armed and Dangerous, maximum force is permitted to subdue such targets.

• Multiple Hostiles - it can be extremely difficult to detain multiple hostiles. As a last resort if you are being mobbed you may deploy your baton in a harmful manner to thin the crowd. Generally it is better to retreat and regroup than stand your ground.

Additionally, in the event of an attempted prison break, Security may fire lasers through the glass. They are expected to first fire a few warning shots before unloading their weapon into the target.

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Modifiers

Circumstances that may be applied to incidents or crimes depending on circumstance.

Code	Crime	Description	Notes
A	Re-Education	De-conversion of revolutionary sympathisers or cultists.	Immediate release.
B	Elevated Sentencing	Scope of crimes committed or their repetition warrant raising severity by one notch. Generally applied after the third instance of a crime, reapplicable, you can imprison crew permanently(with warden/hos/xo/cap permission) if they do not show signs of stopping.	Crime is counted as one(or more) severities higher than usual.
C	Self-Defense	Self Defense is defined as "The protection of oneself, the protection of thy colleagues, and the protection of thine workplace". Do note however that persons intentionally getting involved in fights which occur in a department that isn't theirs is an act of vigilantism, this is not permitted. Leniency is advised during times of crisis.	Immediate release.
D	Cooperation with Prosecution or MPs	Cooperation specifically when already being arrested.	Notch crime severity down/lessen punishment, not applicable to capital crimes.
E	Surrender	Voluntarily seeking out MP officers and confessing to a crime.	Notch crime severity down, consider leniency when determining punishment(When applying to native capital crimes, only release on parole with tracking implant).
F	Insanity	Crime comitted during an episode of mind control, hypnosis, brainwashing, etc. Perpetrator is of unstable mind, recommend medical treatment and demotion.	Immediate release and medical treatment. If treatment impossible, release only with commanding officer present.
G	Resisting Arrest	Knowingly resisting attempts at legal detention by members of the MP team.	Double sentence time.
H	Aiding and Abetting	Knowingly helping a criminal in committing a crime, including interfering with the arrest, stealing prisoners in transit, breaking them out of prison, hiding them, providing medical care without ensuring they don’t run, etc	Same sentence as original criminal.
I	Escaped Prisoner	Someone who has escaped their cell should be recaptured and returned to the brig.	Timer reset to the full length of the original sentence.

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Infractions

All of these crimes carry a 25% income fine(or just 100 credits) + a reprimand.

Code		Crime	Description	Notes
001		Superficial Vandalism	To deface the vessel or property of another individual.	Minor damage that can be repaired with space cleaner or other cosmetic only damage.
003		Disorderly Conduct	To conduct ones self in a way unsuitable for the retention of one’s position.	Minorly disruptive behavior that isn't otherwise illegal, such as drunkenly harassing a crewmember, shoving people around, etc.
007M		Trespass	To be in an area which a person has either not purposefully been admitted to, does not have access, or has been asked to leave by someone who has access to that area.	Being in an area, or having access to an area is not permission to that area. This crime covers non forcible entry into areas, such as following someone through a door.
008M		Creating a Hazard	To create a situation which may lead to the harm of others during normal operation in that department.	Minor unsafe behavior can also be charged under this crime.
012		Discriminatory Language	To use language which demeans, generalizes, or otherwise de-personafies the individual at which it is targeted.	Note that actual, OOC racism is not acceptable under the rules.

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Minor Crimes

All of these crimes carry a 5 minutes sentence, with optional demotion at the relevant heads discretion.

Code		Crime	Description	Notes
101M		Minor Vandalism	To damage, destroy, or permanently deface non-critical furniture, vendors, or personal property.	Large amounts of irreparable damage should be charged with Major Vandalism, Damage to critical infrastructure may be a form of Sabotage.
102E		Assault	To use physical force against someone without the apparent intent to kill them.	This covers minor criminal uses of force, Without intent to seriously injure. That would be Aggravated Assault, or possibly a flavor of Murder. Notably does not include shoving, that would be 003.
103E		Disturbing the Peace	To knowingly organize a movement which disrupts the normal operations of a department.	Establishing a peaceful strike or otherwise disrupting standard department order without attachment to criminal entities
104M		Dereliction of Duty	To willfully abandon an obligation that is critical to the vessel's continued operation.	A demotion is often included in the sentence. Emphasis on the word critical: An officer taking a break is not dereliction in of itself. An officer taking a break knowing that operatives are shooting up the Captain is. Engineers who do not secure a power source at the start of the shift and heads of staff who abandon the vessel can also be charged.
105M		Breaking and Entering	Forced entry to areas where the subject does not have access to. This counts for general areas only.	Crew can still be charged with breaking & entry even if they do not enter the area themselves.
106M		Encouragement of sympathizing Attitudes	To openly express viewpoints or opinions sympathetic to the cause of an enemy organisation, in the attempt to encourage such thoughts among the wider crew.	For non-specific variant of this see: Disturbing the peace. Openly Humanising the enemy during a battle may lessen morale and fighting spirit, this must be nipped in the bud.
107E		Trespass, Dangerous Area	Trespassing in an area which may lead to the injury of self, or others.	Engineering spaces specifically related to reactor control, atmospherics, or toxins lab count here. This list is not exhaustive, but should not be extorted to increase sentencing.
108M		Negligence	To be negligent in one’s duty to an extent that it may cause harm, illness, or other negative effect, to another.	This is the charge for the doctor that accidentally pumps pentetic acid into an oozeling, or a scientist who accidentally floods toxins with room temperature CO2 or N2O.
109		Pickpocketing	To steal items from another’s person.	Small or easily replaceable items should be charged with this, otherwise consider a higher class of theft.
110		Possession, Illicit Substances	The possession of illegal drugs in quantities appropriate for personal use.	A pill or two of drugs is reasonable for recreational use, anything more is probably better charged as distribution.
111		Fine Evasion	To purposefully avoid or refuse to pay a legal fine.	A reasonable time and notification should be given to the plaintiff.
112M		Disruptive Communications	To knowingly disrupt or needlessly populate a radio frequency with the intent to be a nuisance to users of that frequency.	Radio spam bad. I'm looking at you, circuit makers.

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Medium Crimes

These crimes carry a 10 minute sentence with advised demotion at the relevant head's discretion.

Code		Crime	Description	Notes
201C		Vandalism, Major	To destroy or damage non-critical furniture, vendors, or personal property in a manor that can not be repaired.	Spray painting all the lights red and wrecking tables in the bar is fun and all, but it makes it hard to figure out where the fire is, or to have a polite sip of tea.
202M		Assault of an Officer	To use physical force against a Department Head or member of Security without the apparent intent to kill them.	Criminals who attempt to disarm or grab officers while fleeing are guilty of this, even if bare handed. Officers should refrain from using lethal means to subdue the criminal if possible.
203M		Vigilantism	To perform the responsibilities and duties of military police without approval or due cause to act.	Validhunting bad. Let the redshirts/squaddies do their job.
204C		Insubordination, Rank	To knowingly disobey a lawful order from a superior ranking officer.	This is not related to heads of staff or command specifically, for that see: 304. This concerns minor cases of petty officers not doing what they are told to do by higher ranking staff, etc.
205M		Breaking and Entering, Inherently Dangerous Areas	To trespass into an area which may lead to the injury of self or others using forcible entry.	Generally this will lead to injury. See breaking and entering, and apply any of the areas for Trespassing to dangerous areas.
207M		Trespass, High Security Areas	Trespassing in any of the following without appropriate permission or access: Command areas, Personal offices, Weapons storage, weapon production, explosive storage, explosive production, or other high security areas.	The clown is not legally allowed to trail the captain into the bridge unless it is for a prank according to their Standard Operating Procedures.
208M		Severe Negligence	To be negligent in one’s duty to an extent that it may cause harm to multiple individuals, a department, or in a manor which directly leads to a serious injury of another person which requires emergency medical treatment.	Virologists releasing spanish flu on accident, or scientists that flood science/toxins with plasma get charged here. It can also include engineers who destabilise the reactor or wander around with highly radioactive material.
209M		Theft	To steal equipment or items from a workplace, or items of extraordinary value from one’s person.	This includes things like insulated gloves, crew pinpointers, normal ID cards, or personal items.
210M		Distribution, Illicit Substances	The possession of dangerous or illegal drugs/equipment in a quantity greater than that which is reasonable for personal consumption.	You should probably try to determine intent from additional evidence before charging someone with this.
211		Fraud	To misrepresent ones intention in the interest of gaining property or money from another individual.	Lying to someone about a cargo bounty, for example. Be honest with your intentions. Don't stretch this, gaining items which normally wouldn't be considered theft likely aren't worth charging under fraud.
212		Indecent Exposure	To be intentionally and publicly unclothed.	Running around the vessel naked. The mutual degradation of chasing a naked man down while he screams rape is only worth it on slow shifts.

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Major Crimes

These crimes carry a 15 minute sentence. Demotion is mandatory in all cases.

Code		Crime	Description	Notes
301X		Sabotage	To destroy vessel assets or resources critical to normal or emergency vessel procedures, or cause sections of the vessel to become uninhabitable.	Deliberately releasing N2O, bolting doors, disabling the power network, and constructing barricades are but some of many means of sabotage. For more violent forms, see Grand Sabotage.
302X		Aggravated Assault/Attempted Murder	To take physical action against a person with intent to grievously harm or kill.	This covers criminal uses of force, with intent to seriously injure or kill. If you're going at someone with a circular saw, it doesn't matter if you're trying to kill him or just nearly kill him.
303X		Rioting	To partake in an unauthorised and disruptive assembly of crewmen that refuse to disperse.	It is required to declare a riot and order the crowd to disperse, failure to disperse is the crime of note here. Any crimes committed during the riot are considered separate offences.
304C		Insubordination	To knowingly disobey a lawful order from a superior.	Obey your heads of staff if they instruct you to do something within the scope of your job. This only regards orders from a member of the command team, for rank-specific insubordination, see: 204.
305X		Breaking and Entering, High Security Areas	To commit trespassing into a secure area such as: Command areas, Personal offices, Weapons storage, weapon production, explosive storage, explosive production, or other high security areas, using forcible entry.	Please note, paramedics may have to commit breaking and entry in order to perform their duties.
306C		Enemy Sympathizer	To openly call for action to the benefit of an enemy organisation, in the attempt to weaken the position of the ship, or strengthen the position of the enemy.	Yelling HAIL THE SYNDICATE is skirting close to mutiny, but isn't quite it just yet. Once they actually start doing/sabotaging something, that's when it gets serious.
308E		Manslaughter	To unintentionally kill someone through negligent, but not malicious, actions.	They didn't mean to do it but someone's dead now. It's important to remember that you may want them to fix what they've done before throwing them in the brig, in the example of medical malpractice.
309C		Larceny	To steal rare, expensive (Items of greater than 1000 credit value), or restricted equipment from secure areas or one’s person.	This does not include theft of people's ID cards, which are likely to hold a value of more than 1000 credits. It does however cover ID cards which could lead into high security areas, such as the Captain's, Head of Personnel's, or Head of Security's.
310C		Production, Illicit Substances	To produce substances such as drugs, poisons, performance enhancers, etc without explicit written permission by the Chief Medical Officer and Captain.	Including meth, crank, krokodile, etc. The mentioned written permission MUST be from the Captain AND CMO, no matter if it's the botanist or chemist.
311		Grand Fraud	To misrepresent one’s intention in the interest of gaining property or money from Whiterapids, or to gain or give property or money from Whiterapids without proper authorization.	If you receive money to order something for a department don't pocket that money.

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Capital Crimes

These crimes can result in Execution, Permanent Prison Time, or Cyborgization.

Only the Captain, XO, HoS, and Warden can authorize a Permanent Sentence.

Only the Captain can authorize an Execution or Forced Cyborgization.

Code		Crime	Description	Notes
407		Grand Sabotage	To destroy or modify vessel assets or equipment without which the vessel may collapse or otherwise become uninhabitable.	This may include tampering with vessel records, purposefully detonating the reactor, destroying the SMES power storage equipment, plasma flooding, or superheating distro.
401		Murder	To maliciously kill someone.	Punishment should fit the nature of both the crime and the criminal. Murder committed by temporary emotional distress, such as fear or anger, warrants lower punishments. Cyborg candidates must have brains fit to obey relevant laws. Life imprisonment is the most humane option for the insane who might malfunction as cyborgs. Unauthorised executions are classed as Murder.
		Inciting a Riot	To attempt to stir the crew into a riot with the intention of disrupting the functioning of the vessel.	Additionally to the brigging the offender will also have restrictions placed on their radio traffic and be implanted with a tracking implant.
406		Mutiny	To act individually, or as a group, to overthrow or subvert the established Chain of Command without lawful and legitimate cause.	Mutiny is not as clear cut as it may seem, there may be a legitimate reason for their actions, such as their head of staff being utterly incompetent. This is one of the few crimes where it is recommended to always seek a third party opinion. If their actions are determined to be for the betterment of the vessel consider a timed sentence or even a full pardon.
411		Enemy of the Corporation	To be a member of any of the following organizations: The syndicate, Hostile boarding parties, Wizards, Changeling Hiveminds, cults, or other non-authorized religious practitioners (heretics).	Current enemies of Nanotrasen currently include: The Syndicate (through secret agents, boarding parties, and brainwashing specialists), The Wizard Federation, The Changeling Hivemind, and The Cult of Nar'Sie. Please also consider that deconversion is preferable to charging under EOTC. This is a LAST RESORT, and a trial must be held before conviction of personnel that were at any time on the crew manifest. Heretics are exempt from the trial requirement, and have their sentence executed without a trial.
403		Severe Manslaughter	To cause large scale loss of life without apparent intent to do so, this may be an engineer causing the reactor to blow up, a munitions technician blowing up the entire munitions bay, etc.	If you can find their remains, well done.
408		Grand Larceny	To steal inherently dangerous items from their storage, one’s person, or other such methods acquire through illicit means.	Syndicate agents frequently attempt to steal cutting-edge technology. Examples include: intelligence or research samples, the Hand Teleporter, the Captain's Antique Laser, the Captain or the HoP's ID cards, or Mechs. This is by no means a exhaustive list of items that are high value to the syndicate; when in doubt use common sense when you see certain items that are stolen that can cause massive problems throughout the vessel. Remember if something is locked up in a secure area it probably should not be taken without prior permission.