Temporal Law

From FEInfobase

Starfleet Temporal Investigations is charged with the enforcement of Federation temporal law.

Contents 1 Federation Temporal Law 1.1 The Temporal Prime Directive 1.2 Starfleet Temporal Order 05 1.3 Prohibition of Temporal Technology 1.4 The Guardian of Forever and other Temporal Entities 1.5 Prohibition of Timeshifted Technology and Information 2 Terminology

Federation Temporal Law

The Temporal Prime Directive

Starfleet Temporal Order 00, often referred to as the Temporal Prime Directive, reads as follows:

No Starfleet officer shall, at any time, interfere with the natural progression of the timeline, through the use of time travel or other forms of temporal incursion, except to restore the preferred timeline. This order supercedes all other Starfleet general orders, including the Prime Directive.

This order forms much of the basis for Temporal Investigations's behavior. Most prosecutions of Starfleet personnel under temporal law fall under Starfleet JAG, and include a charge of violating Temporal Order 00.

Starfleet Temporal Order 05

Starfleet Temporal Order 05 provides guidelines for responding to a temporal incursion.

Any Starfleet officer, on discovering that a temporal incursion has occurred, is authorized and mandated to, by any means necessary, restore the preferred timeline. Should a Starfleet officer find himself temporally displaced, he shall take as much precaution as possible to avoid contamination of the timeline. Should events occur that would contaminate the timeline, the officer is authorized and mandated to, by any means necessary, restore the preferred timeline.

This order establishes Starfleet as a secondary police body to protect the timeline from change, and instructs Starfleet personnel on proper behavior when temporally displaced.

Prohibition of Temporal Technology

Federation Temporal Statute 342 states:

No Federation citizen may possess any technology with a primary purpose of creating temporal incursion, except by permission of the Department of Temporal Investigations.

While Starfleet Temporal Investigations's official stance is that they inherited the power to grant temporal technology's use from the Department of Temporal Investigations, this position has not been tested in court.

The Guardian of Forever and other Temporal Entities

Federation Temporal Statute 412 states:

The entity referring to itself as the Guardian of Forever is a sentient creature, and is granted all rights thereof. However, its power over the timeline is not to be solicited or used except by permission of the Department of Temporal Investigations.

Various amendments to this statute exist to place other temporal entities, such as the Bajoran wormhole aliens and the Q. Much as with Temporal Statute 342, Starfleet Temporal Investigations claims to have inherited the powers of the Department of Temporal Investigations under this statute.

Prohibition of Timeshifted Technology and Information

Federation Temporal Statute 528 states:

No Federation citizen may use technology gained from other points in the timeline, such as items sent back from the future, except by permission of the Department of Temporal Investigations. Any Federation citizen who gains information from the future shall endeavor to act as they would without said information.

The first portion of this statute has often been ignored by the courts if suitably dire circumstances have been present, such as the Whalesong incident or the 2378 Borg incursion. Much as with Temporal Statute 342, Starfleet Temporal Investigations claims to have inherited the powers of the Department of Temporal Investigations under this statute.

The second clause of this statute is generally considered legally unenforceable except in situations of flagrant violation.

Terminology

A few terms of importance in temporal law:

• Temporal Incursion - Any event that places matter or energy at a different point in the timeline. In physics, this term can be used to refer to gravitiational fields and other things that cause subjective and objective time to flow at different rates; in temporal law, it refers specifically to movement outside the normal flow of time.

• Objective time - The flow of time for a neutrino in deep space, still with relation to the galactic center.

• Subjective time - The flow of time for any given object.

• Preferred Timeline - The course events would take without any temporal incursions.

• Acceptable Deviation - When a temporal incursion occurs, it is impossible to restore the preferred timeline perfectly. Therefore, acceptable deviation is the smallest change to the preferred timeline possible.