Guarantees of Sentient Rights

Approved by the Supreme Assembly and Ratified on 1 January 2170

The representatives of the people of the United Federation of Planets, organized as the Supreme Assembly and the Federation Council, believing that the ignorance, neglect, or contempt of the rights of sentients are the sole cause of public calamities and of the corruption of governments, have determined to set forth in a solemn declaration the natural, unalienable, and sacred rights of all sentients, in order that this declaration, being constantly before all the members of the United Federation of Planets, shall remind them continually of their rights and duties; in order that the acts of the legislative power, as well as those of the executive power, may be compared at any moment with the objects and purposes of all political institutions and may thus be more respected, and, lastly, in order that the grievances of the citizens, based hereafter upon simple and incontestable principles, shall tend to the maintenance of the Articles of Federation and redound to the happiness of all. Therefore the Supreme Assembly and the Federation Council recognizes and proclaims, in the presence and under the auspices of the Supreme Being, the following rights of sentients and of the citizenry:

Articles

1. Sentients are born and remain free and equal in rights. The law must in all cases respect this principle.

2. The aim of all government is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of sentients. These rights are liberty, property, security, conscience, expression, intimate association and resistance to oppression.

3. The principle of all sovereignty resides essentially in the nation. No body nor individual may exercise any authority which does not proceed directly from the nation.

4. Liberty consists in the freedom to do everything which injures no one else; hence the exercise of the natural rights of each sentient has no limits except those which assure to the other members of the society the enjoyment of the same rights.

5. Law can only prohibit such actions as are demonstrably and objectively hurtful to society. Nothing may be prevented which is not forbidden by law, and no one may be forced to do anything not provided for by law.

6. Law is the expression of the general will. Every citizen has a right to participate personally, or through his representative, in its foundation. It must be the same for all, whether it protects or punishes. All citizens, being equal in the eyes of the law, are equally eligible to all dignities and to all public positions and occupations, according to their abilities, and without distinction except that of their virtues and talents. The law may not designate any group of citizens and deny them equal benefits, standing, privileges or protections based solely upon their membership in said designated group

7. No person shall be accused, arrested, or imprisoned except in the cases and according to the forms prescribed by law. Any one soliciting, transmitting, executing, or causing to be executed, any arbitrary order, shall be punished. But any citizen summoned or arrested in virtue of the law shall submit without delay, as resistance constitutes an offense. Under no circumstances may any person be compelled to provide evidence or testimony against themselves.

8. The law shall provide for such punishments only as are strictly and obviously necessary, and no one shall suffer punishment except it be legally inflicted in virtue of a law passed and promulgated before the commission of the offense.

9. As all persons are held innocent until they shall have been proven guilty, if arrest shall be deemed indispensable, all harshness not essential to the securing of the prisoner's person shall be severely repressed by law.

10. No one shall be disquieted on account of his opinions, including his religious views, provided their manifestation does not infringe upon the rights of others.

11. The free communication of ideas and opinions is one of the most precious of the rights of sentients. Every citizen may, accordingly, speak, write, and print with freedom, but shall be responsible for such abuses of this freedom as shall be defined by law.

12. The security of the rights of sentients and of the citizen requires public military forces. These forces are, therefore, established for the good of all and not for the personal advantage of those to whom they shall be entrusted.

13. All the citizens have a right to decide, either personally or by their representatives, as to the necessity of the public contribution; to grant this freely; to know to what uses it is put; and to fix the proportion, the mode of assessment and of collection and the duration of the taxes.

14. Society has the right to require of every public agent an account of their administration.

15. Since property is an inviolable and sacred right, no one shall be deprived thereof except where public necessity, legally determined, shall clearly demand it, and then only on condition that the owner shall have been previously and equitably indemnified.