Klingon law
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In the fictional Star Trek universe, Klingon law is that law code which is used in the Klingon Empire. A large proportion of what we know of the Klingon law code comes from the film Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, in which an assassination trial is witnessed, and the Deep Space Nine episode, The House of Quark, in which Quark accidentally kills a Klingon. It should be noted that over a century elapsed between the dates of these two events, however, and some evolution of the system may have occurred in that period.
The Klingon law code is rather similar to that of the Federation, with a few key differences:
- Klingon law provides that both the prosecution and the defence present their cases simultaneously.
- Klingon law provides for some key rights:
- If the head of a house kills the head of another house honourably, he has the right to marry his victim's widow and thereby become the leader of that house as well, in a ritual called bIreqtal.
- If a member of a house is killed dishonourably, another member of that house may swear to blood revenge, allowing that house member to kill the murderer of their kin (it is unclear what limits exist on which house member this must be); this is a legal right called bortaS DIb, the "Right of Vengeance".
- Murder is a capital offence under Klingon law.
- Assassination is also a capital offence under Klingon law.
- A Klingon who allows him or herself to be captured in battle and doesn't attempt to escape or fight his or her way free dishonors themselves and his or her family for three generations.
- As in Federation law, the captain of a starship is responsible for the actions of his crew. If a member of a crew is not able to be located for prosecution, the captain may be prosecuted in his stead.
- In Klingon law, a Klingon's family is responsible for his or her actions, and the family is responsible for the individual's acts. If a family member commits treason, the family will be dishonored for generations. One of the most well known examples is when the Klingon government accused Mogh, father of Worf, of collusion with the Romulans. Because of Klingon law, Worf and his brother Kurn were also guilty of Mogh's act under Klingon law. It actually was Duras' father who committed the treason, but if that had been revealed, at the time it would have caused civil war. Worf then accepted discommendation for over a year to protect the Empire, and to stay alive long enough to right that wrong.