Space Treaty of 2038

The Space Treaty of 2038 - and its vast array of amendments, riders and extensions - lays the foundation of the laws and regulations of the space age.

Overview

The treaty regulates the construction, maintenance and operation of space stations, lays the foundation of citizenship for space born, and also sets other rules and limitations for space travel.

Prohibited

It extends already existing prohibited activities, such as piracy, theft, smuggling, hacking, trafficking and slavery to space. It also prohibits civilians from bearing arms or arming their ships. The only weapons allowed by default on civilian ships are point defence, as they are often needed to shoot asteroids and other form space debris before they can damage ships.

The treaty further bans other space activities such as space races, space blockades and the interference of any encrypted signals and messages.

The Ceres amendment of the treaty also bans all civilian fire arm ownership, and limits them to the IPA and perhaps any private police forces employed by the station.

Form 12

With the rise of space piracy, the restrictions on weapons on civilian vessels was loosened. If a vessel is considerable danger of being raided by pirates or other lawless factions, the captain can apply for a form (or permit) 12a, allowing him to arm his vessel.

Acquiring a form 12a costs 500 000 credits. Access to a Form 12 is not a right.

The form is not restricted to the captain, and may also be held by any permanent crew under the captains employment; such as a weapons expert.

The a Variant of this form - Form 12a - allows for all weapons to be mounted on a civilian vessel, except for nuclear missiles. For that a Form 12b is required, which usually cannot be acquired by civilians.

This form can be revoked by the IPA, upon which it has to be repurchased. Carrying non-disabled arms on a vessel without this Form is a major offence, usually punished by several years of prison.

Weapon permits

Permit 22 allows the right to bear arms to civilians. It is necessary to legally own and carry firearms on board of vessels, space stations and colonies. The Permit itself comes in many variations, regulating access to different forms of firearms.

Permit 22a covers the open carrying of handguns (such as pistols and revolvers). 22b is the concealed carry permit extensions to 22a. A 22a costs 50000 and a 22b costs an additional 20000. These are individual licences.

Permit 31a includes semi automatic PDWs, rifles, shotguns and other semi automatic large calibre weapons. It costs 100000 credits to acquire. It is an individual licence, and allows owning these guns. But a 31b is required to carry these guns on a station. 31b costs an additional 100000 credits.

A permit 39 grants access to automatic weapons, and other weapons tiered as "military grade", such as explosives. It is usually not issued to civilians, but instead to entire organisations, such as corporations or private military contractors. It costs 500000 credits to acquire for an individual licence. The cost of a licence for an entire crew, organisation or corporation are usually much higher.

All of these permits can be revoked by the IPA, and temporary bans can enacted that overrule these permits.

First Contact

The Space Treaty of 2034 also establishes the rules for the first contact of intelligent alien life. In such a case the IPA is the one responsible for the establishing contact and beginning negotiations.

It further bans anyone else from interfering with lesser sentient life forms.

Draft

In case of emergency, the Treaty of 2038 also give the IPA to power to draft civilians of the UNE or FMR directly into the IPA. This also includes vessels and their crew.