Law of the Twelve Colonies (TOS)

Part of the series on The Twelve Colonies of Man (Original Series)

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The law of the Twelve Colonies of Man is unique. Even in the Fleet after the Cylon attack, the laws of the Colonies and their mechanisms have remained intact. The highest sentence that can be meted out by the Colonial system is life imprisonment. No death penalty exists.

Law

Colonial society views various activities as criminal and prosecutable, including:

Premeditated human termination

Premeditated human termination, better known as murder, is punishable by imprisonment.

Illegal presences aboard ships in the Fleet

People on ships in the Fleet under assumed names (like Elias, Chella and Karibdis), having avoided being logged in the Fleet computer, may receive minor punishments.

Self-defense

The result of a self-defense plea, when it involves the termination (death) of an individual, results in a suspended sentence. To those in the Colonial Fleet who are charged with this, they are dismissed from the service.

Treason

Those found guilty of treason can be imprisoned for life, as is the case with Baltar ("War of the Gods, Part II," "Murder on the Rising Star," et al.)

Roles

Chief Opposer Solon and Starbuck's Protector approach the bench ^{(TOS: "Murder on the Rising Star")}.

There are different roles in the Colonial justice system, namely:

• Opposer, which acts as the prosecution
• Protector, which acts as the defense for the accused.

The role of "Chief Opposer" is apparently obtained by any respected, seasoned Opposer, such as Sire Solon.

Both Opposers and Protectors have the unique ability to investigate crimes without the need of a separate investigator. Their activities include the collection of evidence for their case and the ability to question witnesses and related parties.

Chief Opposers can also receive and enter in the plea of the accused, regardless of whether or not they are guilty. It is unknown if this ability is shared with lower-level Opposers. Furthermore, they can offer alternatives to the accused to mitigate their sentences, such as pleas of self-defense when faced with termination charges.

In addition, Opposers and Protectors can be interviewed by Inter-Fleet Broadcasting and other press junkets to talk about the merits of the case before the tribunal is convened ^{(TOS: "Murder on the Rising Star")}.

Tribunal system

Colonial judicial proceedings are called tribunals. They are held 10 centars after a plea from the accused is formally entered. Postponements cannot be granted under the circumstances of premeditated human termination charges.

When faced with charges of premeditated termination, the suspect or accused party is held in detention until the tribunal.

The tribunal is convened to hear out the case. The tribunal, which judges the case, consists of three people that hear out the arguments of both sides ^{(TOS: "Murder on the Rising Star")}.

Tie-in Material Information

• According to Encyclopedia Galactica (a non-canonical piece of merchandise published in 1979):

A fundamental Human liberty recognized in the Books of the Lords of Kobol themselves is the right of the criminally accused to a fair trial before an impartial tribunal. The exact nature of tribunals has varied from Colony to Colony over time, but certain basic elements are essential to a valid conviction. The judge must be a highly-trained state official with no prior knowledge of the defendant and no other interest in the case than that the law be faithfully executed. A trial must follow procedures set out carefully in advance, and if the accused is once acquitted, he or she may never again be tried for the same crime. In some Colonies, the ultimate questions of fact—for example, is the accused the one who committed the crime—are determined by a jury of citizens untrained in law and unfamiliar with the facts of the case. This peculiar system seems guaranteed to produce less accurate results than, for example, the Scorpian system in which a panel of professional investigators aided by physiological truth detectors and probability-calculating computers determine the facts of each case.

The State's case against the accused is presented by an Opposer, usually a law-trained State official. The accused has a right to speak in his own defense, and in most systems has the right to a Protector to conduct his defense. Early in Human history, the Protector was simply the head of the accused's clan, an Elder who represented his people in all matters. In some Colonies this role developed into a profession, with specially-trained lawyers hiring themselves out regardless of clan lines. The injustice of this system for those who could not afford to pay soon led to the requirement that the State provide legal counsel to those who cannot afford their own.