Treaty of Algeron

Brief Introduction & Overview

The Treaty of Algeron was a peace treaty signed between the United Federation of Planets and the Romulan Star Empire in 2311, following the events of the Tomed Incident. The treaty reinforced and re-defined the Romulan Neutral Zone, and made clear that any violations of the Zone without adequate notification, by either side, would be considered an act of war. With that, the Romulans disappeared and were not heard from for many decades.

Research into, and the use of cloaking technology by the Federation is strictly prohibited by this treaty. Admiral Erik Pressman attempted to circumvent this clause in 2358 with the test of an interphase cloaking device developed by Starfleet Intelligence (possibly the covert Section 31) aboard the USS Pegasus. Ultimately, this experiment was a failure.

In the early 2400's, an agreement between the Federation and the Romulans allowed the use of two cloaking devices on Starfleet vessels usef to explore Breen territory in mored depth. In return, the Federation was to provide the Romulans with any gathered intelligence. In 2406, the Federation Civil War broke out, and as the fighting between LoDona & Doenitz began, this temporary agreement with the Romulans was conveniently forgotten. In an attempt to gain an advantage, one side used these cloaking devices to equip some of it's military vessels, then in response so did the other side.

Exactly who acted first is uncertain, but as the war rolled in to full swing, the Romulans did nothing to enforce this aspect of the treaty, nor were they inclined to do so. Uncertain of whether they had the military power to lead a war against the already fully armed Romulans, it was in their interests to allow the Federation to tear itself apart. It was the view of many Romulans that one day the Federation would make itself so weak that it would be unable to resist the demands of the empire. In 2407, after the civil war had come to a close, the Romulans once more atempted to open negotiations. Their intentions at first were unclear, but it would seem that the articles in the Treaty of Algeron would be at the very centre of their agenda.

PREAMBLE

THE HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES, In order to promote interstellar co-operation and to achieve interspecies peace and security by the acceptance of obligations not to resort to war by the prescription of open, just and honorable relations between their respective ruling bodies by the firm establishment of the understandings of interstellar law as the actual rule of conduct among Governments, and by the maintenance of justice and a scrupulous respect for all treaty obligations in the dealings of organized species with one another Agree to this Treaty of Peace set forth herein and known forthwith as the Treaty of Algeron.

Article 1

Those bound by the articles of this treaty shall be the duly appointed or elected representatives of their respective species. These Signatories which are named in the Annex to this Covenant and also such of those other species that shall be named in the Annex as shall accede without reservation to this Covenant. Such accession shall be effected by a Declaration deposited with the joint delegations within two standard solar months of the coming into force of the Covenant. Any fully self-governing State, Dominion, Empire, Federation or Colony not named in the Annex may become a participant of this treaty if its admission is agreed to by the Signatories provided that it shall give effective guarantees of its sincere intention to observe its interstellar obligations, and shall accept such regulations as may be prescribed by this treaty in regard to its military forces, as defined by any designation that bears arms for the purpose of defense or offence; either for the extension of political power or the defense of sovereign territory; and should herein include any policing force whose purpose is to regulate the activities of its citizenry.

Article 2

The action under this Covenant shall be effected through the instrumentality of a respective assembly, with a permanent Secretariat, hereby entitled the Federation Council and the Senate of the Romulan Empire.

Article 3

A seat of diplomatic relations shall be established at the colony at Nelvana III. This world shall act as a neutral meeting place between the officiated appointees or electors of the Diplomatic corps of the United Federation of Planets and the Romulans Star Empire. There shall be no colonization of this world or system by either power but only the establishment of facilities required of diplomatic relations shall be constructed there on. This world shall only be accessible to either side, in the mutual agreement by both parties and only diplomatic personnel shall be permitted thereon, when such a meeting shall be deemed prudent. Representatives of the Members of such a delegation and officials of an invited third party, when engaged on the business of the signatories, shall enjoy diplomatic privileges and immunities. The buildings and other property occupied by the delegations or its officials or by Representatives attending its meetings shall be inviolable.

Article 4

The Members of this treaty agree that the maintenance of peace requires the reduction of Federation and Empirical armaments to the lowest point consistent with national safety and the enforcement by common action of interstellar obligations. The Signatories, taking account of the geographical situation and circumstances of each State, shall formulate plans for such reduction for the consideration and action of the Governments. Such plans shall be subject to reconsideration and revision at least every one-hundred years. The Members of this treaty agree to interchange full and frank information as to the scale of their armaments, their military, fleet and policing programs and the condition of such of their industries as are adaptable to war-like purposes.

Article 5

The Members of this Treaty agree to respect and preserve as against external aggression the territorial integrity and existing political independence of their respective signatories.

Article 6

Any external war or threat of external war, whether immediately affecting any of the signatories of this treaty or not, is hereby declared a matter of concern to the whole quadrant, and the signatories agree that they shall take any action that may be deemed wise and effectual to safeguard the peace of the signing powers.

Article 7

The Members of this treaty agree that if there should arise between them any dispute likely to lead to a rupture, they will submit the matter either to arbitration or to inquiry by an agreed upon third party, and they agree in no case to resort to war until three months after the award by the arbitrators.

Article 8

The Signatories of this treaty agree that whenever any dispute shall arise between them which they recognize to be suitable for submission to arbitration and which cannot be satisfactorily settled by diplomacy, they will submit the whole subject-matter to arbitration. Disputes as to the interpretation of a treaty, as to any question of interstellar law, as to the existence of any fact which if established would constitute a breach of any interstellar obligation, or as to the extent and nature of the reparation to be made or any such breach, are declared to be among those which are generally suitable for submission to arbitration. For the consideration of any such dispute the court of arbitration to which the case is referred shall be defined as any Court agreed on by the parties to the dispute or stipulated in any convention existing between them. In any case under this Article the award of the arbitrators shall be made within a reasonable time, and the decision of the arbiter shall be made within six months after the submission of the dispute. The Members of this treaty agree that they will carry out in full good faith any award that may be rendered, and that they will not resort to war against another signatory which complies therewith. In the event of any failure to carry out such an award, the Arbiter shall propose what steps should be taken to give effect thereto.

Article 9

Every treaty or interstellar engagement entered into hereafter by any Signatory shall be forthwith registered with the co-signatory of this treaty, should it be desired that such a treaty be recognized by the other signatories of this treaty. No such treaty or interstellar engagement shall be considered binding until so registered and acknowledged by the Parties of this treaty.

Article 10

The Members of this Treaty severely agree that this Covenant is accepted as abrogating all obligations or understandings inter se which are inconsistent with the terms thereof, and solemnly undertake that they will not hereafter enter into any engagements inconsistent with the terms thereof. In case any Signatory shall, before becoming a agreeable party to this treaty, have undertaken any obligations inconsistent with the terms of this Covenant, it shall be the duty of such Member to take immediate steps to procure its release from such obligations.

Article 11

Nothing in this Covenant shall be deemed to affect the validity of interstellar engagements, such as treaties of arbitration or regional understandings like the K’vahrn Doctrine, for securing the maintenance of peace.

Article 12

To those colonies and territories which as a consequence of the late war have ceased to be under the sovereignty of the States which formerly governed them and which are inhabited by peoples not yet able to stand by themselves under the strenuous conditions of the modern political environments, there should be applied the principle that the well-being and development of such peoples form a sacred trust of civilization and that securities for the performance of this trust should be embodied in this Covenant. The best method of giving practical effect to this principle is that the tutelage of such peoples should be entrusted to advanced nations who by reason of their resources, their experience or their geographical position can best undertake this responsibility, and who are willing to accept it, and that this tutelage should be exercised by them as Mandatories on behalf of the Signatories. The character of the mandate must differ according to the stage of the development of the species, the geographical situation of the territory, its economic conditions, and other similar circumstances. The wishes of these communities must be a principal consideration in the selection of the Mandatory. Other species, especially those of the newly expanded Neutral Zone, are at such a stage that the Mandatory must be responsible for the administration of the territory under conditions which shall be subject only to the maintenance of public order and morals, the prohibition of abuses, and the prevention of the establishment of fortifications or military and fleet bases and of military training of the natives for other than police. The degree of authority, control, or administration to be exercised by the Mandatory shall, if not previously agreed upon by the Signatories of this treaty, be explicitly defined in each case by an agreed upon Arbiter. A permanent Commission shall be constituted to receive and examine the annual reports of the Mandatories, by both governments and to advise the Council on all matters relating to the observance of the mandates. In cases where such an agreement can not be reached by parties and in which arbitration is not required, having no dispute that may lead to the issuance of war or the threat of war, those worlds shall be evacuated and the inhabitants shall be relocated at the expense of the government, as deemed fitting by the inhabitants, under the sovereign authority of their choice.

Article 13

Subject to and in accordance with the provisions of interstellar conventions existing or hereafter to be agreed upon, the Signatories shall endeavor to take steps in matters of interstellar concern for the prevention and control of disease.

Article 14

Amendments to this Covenant will take effect when ratified by the Signatories whose representatives shall be duly authorized to conduct the amendment and ratification of interstellar treaties within the laws of their respective governing bodies. No such amendment shall bind any Signatory which signifies its dissent there from.

Article 15

The boundaries of The United Federation of Planets in respect to the Romulan Star Empire shall be determined as follows:

Section 1

The United Federation of Planets shall not undertake and colonization of any sector of space already under the sway of the Romulan Star Empire. The mutual border between the United Federation of Planets and the Romulan star Empire shall remain no less than 15 Light-years separated, and thereby maintaining the demilitarized buffer zone between them, designated herein as the Neutral Zone. No colony of the United Federation of Planets shall be established within this mutual zone of demilitarization, thus leading only to parallel expansion of the borders separating the Romulan Star Empire and the United Federation of Planets.

Section 2

The creation of new colonies by the United Federation of Planets shall be duly declared to the government of the Romulan Star Empire through normal diplomatic channels. Such new colonies shall not cohabitate within a star system previously claimed and filed through diplomatic channels by the Romulan Star Empire.

Section 3

The border shall not be solely defined by the colonization of planetary systems, but may include systems without planetary bodies. However all such claims on said solar systems or solar bodies must be duly filed with the Romulan Star Empire and shall not be contested previously.

Section 4

No outposts or artificial facilities shall be placed within the Neutral Zone by either party.

Section 5

Any creation of a new colony by either party, along the axis of the defined Neutral Zone shall automatically extend the Neutral Zone, in accordance to the provisions outlined within this treaty.

Arcticle 16

The boundaries of The Romulan Star Empire in respect to the United Federation of Planets shall be determined as follows:

Section 1

The Romulan Star Empire shall not undertake and colonization of any sector of space already under the sway of the United Federation of Planets. The mutual border between the Romulan Star Empire and the United Federation of Planets shall remain no less than 15 Light-years separated, and thereby maintaining the demilitarized buffer zone between them, designated herein as the Neutral Zone. No colony of the Romulan Star Empire shall be established within this mutual zone of demilitarization, thus leading only to parallel expansion of the borders separating the Romulan Star Empire and the United Federation of Planets.

Section 2

The creation of new colonies by the Romulan Star Empire shall be duly declared to the government of the United Federation of Planets through normal diplomatic channels. Such new colonies shall not cohabitate within a star system previously claimed and filed through diplomatic channels by the United Federation of Planets.

Section 3

The border shall not be solely defined by the colonization of planetary systems, but may include systems without planetary bodies. However all such claims on said solar systems or solar bodies must be duly filed with the United Federation of Planets and shall not be contested previously.

Section 4

No outposts or artificial facilities shall be placed within the Neutral Zone by either party.

Section 5

Any creation of a new colony by either party, along the axis of the defined Neutral Zone shall automatically extend the Neutral Zone, in accordance to the provisions outlined within this treaty.

Article 17

The current boundaries as described above are displayed on a variable scale stellar map which is annexed to the present Treaty, in the case of any discrepancies between the text of the Treaty and this map or any other map which may be annexed, the text will be final.

Article 18

In the case of boundaries which are defined by a non-standard stellar feature, it will rest with the Boundary Commissions or arbiters designated by the mutual governments provided by the present Treaty to specify in each case whether the frontier line shall follow any changes of the stellar feature which may take place or whether it shall be definitely fixed by the position of the stellar feature at the time when the present Treaty comes into force.

Article 19

When the transfer of the sovereignty over any territories that have been reallocated as a result of the redrawing of the Neutral Zone, takes place, a period not to exceed five standard solar years, Nationals who became resident in a differing governments territories shall not automatically obtain the nationality of their new sovereignty without a special permit from the ruling Government.

Article 20

Within a standard solar year following the definitive transfer of the sovereignty over the territories assigned under the present Treaty, any nationals over the age of majority previously resident in those territories will be entitled to opt for nationality status of the authority over the region in which they reside. Option by a husband will cover his wife, and option by parents will cover their children under the age of majority. Persons who have exercised the above right to opt must within the ensuing twelve standard solar months transfer their place of residence to a colony outside the Neutral Zone, but within the sovereign borders of their selected citizenship. They will not be entitled to retain their immovable property in the territories newly acquired by either signatories but shall be entitled to reasonable commercial compensation for their value. They may carry with them their movable property of every description, save those which are in violation of the law, as dictated by the legislative dictates of their selected nationality. No export or import duties may be imposed upon them in connection with the removal of such property.

Section 1

Cession and exploitation of Mining Property it shall be that, from the date of the coming into force of the present Treaty, all the deposits of dilithium or other mineral or renewable resources situated within the Neutral Zone no longer be exploitable by either the Romulan Star Empire or the United Federation of Planets.

Section 2

The Cession of all such activities, and the dismantlement of all facilities and infrastructures needed to carry out such operations shall be dismantled and such dismantlement completed within 1 standard solar year of the enforcement of the present Treaty.

Section 3

Any troops and military authorities, belonging to the government of the signing sovereign governments will be withdrawn from the area now defined as the Neutral Zone. This shall include all fleet officers and ground forces as well as their auxiliaries. Paramilitary forces, such as those defined as necessary to maintain social order or prosecute criminals may remain behind until such time as their colonies are evacuated in accordance with the limitations of this Treaty.

MILITARY CLAUSES

Article 21

Section 1

Neither government hereby signing this treaty shall endeavor to research, develop or deploy any weapon categorized as a Subspace, Biogenic, Tetrionic or Disruptors- which are perceived as causing extreme pain to the affected parties; in accordance with the banned weapons development Treaties already ratified previously;

Section 2

The United Federation of Planets shall not develop, deploy or research any device which resembles in practice or principle a cloaking device. Such device is defined as a device which shall seek to render visual or sensing of an object, person, planet or facility undetectable.

Sub-section a

In the common interest of the United Federation of Planets and the Romulan Star Empire, it is deemed beneficial to allow a single vessel of the United Federation of Planets to operate a single cloaking device of Romulan design and manufacture. This device shall be placed under the direct supervision of a Subject of the Romulan Star Empire, to insure there is no tampering of the device, or unsupported reproduction of the device in whole or part.

Sub-section b

The use of this device is subject to the desires of the Romulan Star Empire and is permitted only is as much that any information gathered by the hosting vessel is also shared equally with the Romulan Star Empire.

Sub-section c

Should the subject of the Empire be unable to maintain the supervision of the device, it is to be returned to the Romulan Star Empire immediately. Failure to do so constitutes an Act of War.

Section 3

No military vessel of the United Federation of Planets or the Romulan Star Empire shall be permitted to enter the neutral Zone without the express permission of the other Government prior to such a violation. Doing so constitutes an act of War.

Section 4

Only licensed and approved merchants, by both signatories, shall be permitted to travel across the Neutral Zone.

Section 5

Both Governments reserve the right to establish monitoring stations and outposts along the border of the Neutral Zone to enforce the tenants of this Treaty. No facility, Outpost or monitoring station shall be established within the confines of the Neutral Zone by either Party.

Section 6

All fortified works, fortresses and field works situated in Neutral Zone Territory belonging to both, or either Signatory shall be disarmed and dismantled. Within a period of two standard solar months from the coming into force of the present Treaty such of the above fortified works, fortresses and field works as are situated in territory shall be disarmed, and within a further period of four standard solar months they shall be dismantled.

Section 7

The construction of any new fortification, whatever its nature and importance, is forbidden in the Neutral Zone.

GENERAL ARTICLES

Article 22

After the expiration of a period of three standard solar months from the coming into force of the present Treaty, the governing laws of both the United Federation of Planets and the Romulan Star Empire must have been modified and shall be maintained by their respective Government in conformity with this Part of the present Treaty. Within the same period all the administrative or other measures relating to the execution of this Part of the Treaty must have been taken.

Article 23

So long as the present Treaty remains in force, both the Romulan Star Empire and the United Federation of Planets undertakes to give documentation for every colony and facility affected by this treaty for any investigation which the other may consider necessary.

PRISONERS OF WAR

Article 24

The repatriation of prisoners of war and interned civilians shall take place as soon as possible after the coming into force of the present Treaty and shall be carried out with the greatest rapidity.

Article 25

The whole cost of repatriation from the moment of starting shall be borne by the respective governments, under whose Jurisdiction the prisoners are interred, who shall also provide the transport and staff considered necessary to facilitate repatriation.

Article 26

Prisoners of war and interned civilians awaiting disposal or undergoing sentence for offences against discipline shall be repatriated irrespective of the completion of their sentence or of the proceedings pending against them. This stipulation shall not apply to prisoners of war and interned civilians punished for offences committed subsequent to the Tomed Incident. During the period pending their repatriation all prisoners of war and interned civilians shall remain subject to the existing regulations, more especially as regards work and discipline.

Article 27

Prisoners of war and interned civilians who are awaiting disposal or undergoing sentence for offences other than those against discipline may be detained.

Article 28

The Romulan and Federation Government undertake to admit to its territory without distinction all persons liable to repatriation. Prisoners of war or other nationals who do not desire to be repatriated may be excluded from repatriation; but the respective Governments reserve to themselves the right either to repatriate them or to take them to a neutral country or to allow them to reside in their own territories. The respective Government undertakes neither to institute any exceptional proceedings against these persons or their families nor to take any repressive or vexatious measures of any kind whatsoever against them on this account.

Article 29

The Signatories undertake to restore without delay from the date of the coming into force of the present Treaty all articles, money, securities and documents which have belonged to opposing nationals and which have been prior retained by the authorities.

Article 30

The Contracting Parties waive reciprocally all repayment of sums due for the maintenance of prisoners of war in their respective territories.

Article 31

THE PRESENT TREATY, of which the Federation Standard and Romulan texts are both authentic, shall be ratified.

The deposit of ratifications shall be made as soon as possible.

IN FAITH WHEREOF the above-named Plenipotentiaries have signed the present Treaty.

Done in orbit over Algeron III, 15 March two-thousand-one-hundred-sixty-one, in two copies which will remain deposited in the archives of the United Federation of Planets and the Romulan Star Empire, and of which authenticated copies shall be created as needed.

 

Full credit must go to Daniel Greene for the creation of the above. There is no actual cannon reference for this document, and this is an entirely non-cannon document created for Star Trek Freedom.