On 30/5/23 02:45, Jeff Zeitlin - editor at freelancetraveller.com (via
tml list) wrote:
> On Sat, 27 May 2023 10:22:29 -0700, Jim Vassilakos - jim.vassilakos at
> gmail.com (via tml list) <xxxxxx@simplelists.com> wrote to Freelance
> Traveller:
>
>> What happens when an active duty member of the Imperial military services
>> runs afoul of local laws?
>>
>> My guess is that before the Imperium puts a base on a world, they make it
>> sign a Status of Forces agreement, which protects certain
>> Imperial personnel from prosecution. This, indeed, is perhaps what it means
>> to be a Citizen of the Imperium. CotIs have legal protections that the rest
>> of the population doesn't.
> Noting that I'm not aware of any canon on the subject, my holding is, more
> or less, yes. Client States usually do have a separate SoFA, but member
> worlds usually have SoF defined standardly as part of the Agreement of
> Accession.

Jeff, that forecloses whole _classes_ of shenanigans from local-specific
variations of the standard SOFA - which doesn't seem, well, you.

Eg post-1110 (Imperial) Terra after the post-Rim War military occupation
wrapped up.

>
>> However, not all Imperial worlds have signed such agreements, and for some,
>> the protections only exist within a certain territory, such as the Startown
>> immediately outside the local Imperial military base or, in some cases, the
>> starport.
> This I disagree with. Accession includes SoFA. However, the SoFA isn't
> uniform for all CotI. See summary of my take below. SoFA always covers
> base, starport, startown, and cession to Imperial noble representative,
> plus a radius of one day's travel in prevailing planetary mode of
> transport; additional SoFA may be negotiated to cover more, up to entire
> world. On balkanized worlds, SoFA is imposed world-wide without
> negotiation.

Have to agree with FreeTrav - an Imperial member world, _by fact of such
membership_, has some sort of SOFA in place.

How would the "standard" FreeTravian SOFA vary for worlds in the Vegan
Autonomous District, frinstance?

The situation will definitely vary for Imperial clients (single,
multiworld) and for Imperial ports/bases on non-member worlds.  GM would
have to rule on it.

> <snip>
> My holding is as follows:
>
> Imperial Navy, Marines, Scouts: SoFA always applies to all personnel
> Imperial Army: Personnel not on their homeworld are always covered.
> Personnel in units considered to be in 'deployed' status are always
> covered. Personnel on their homeworld are covered while performing duties,
> but not while on leave, if the unit is not considered to be in 'deployed'
> status.
> Imperial Nobles, staff, and household: Always covered. (Imperial diplomats
> are always considered to be attached to the staff of the local Imperial
> noble.)
> Imperial bureaucrats: Always covered if not on homeworld. On homeworld,
> only covered while engaging in official duties.
> Megacorporate employees: Negotiated by megacorp, not by Imperium.

By "Imperial Nobles", are you limiting that to high nobles - ie, those
with direct ex officio governmental responsibilities?

I'd expect service nobles to be covered under their parent organisation
(eg the SPA Chaircritter), but where do honour nobles fit in?

Assuming high nobility only, how is that modified beyond a given nob's
demesne?  eg Norris lobs on Vland, gets into a pissup with Ushuggi, and
runs some poor git down while maggotted?

I guess huscarles would share their parent high noble's status.

Which subsets of those in your list above can be declared persona non
grata by the local government?

>
> The startown for the main planetary downport is generally treated as though
> all offworlders are covered by SoFA. Locals have no special status in any
> portion of startown that lies outside the extraterritoriality cession. The
> local world's law enforcement has no official status within the ExT
> cession, but starport security (which has technical jurisdiction) and
> authorized contractors (which the SPA usually arranges for, since starport
> security is, as usual, chronically understaffed) will generally cooperate
> with planetary authorities for cases of serious felony. (IMTU, serious
> felony generally covers what are generally held to be internationally-
> extraditable crimes, ignoring policy based on possible penalties to be
> imposed.)
>
I'm guessing "felony" translates as "(major) indictable offence" for us
in the Commonwealth?  I might not recall correctly, but I _believe_ that
the remaining actual felonies in AU law are a subset of high treason.

As for ports - given Imperial ports are extraterritorial, why wouldn't
that startown treatment apply to _all_ ports, high and down?

Frinstance, (going back to post-1110 Terra), say the Class A port
comprises of two high ports (Cairo Orbital and Phoenix Orbital, each in
synchronous orbit roughly over their namesake cities' longitudes), their
corresponding downports (Phoenix Down being the bigger one), and two
auxiliary (but still Imperial) ports, one near the planetary capital,
Brasilia, and the other on the island of Sumatra.

Why would _only_ Phoenix Down be treated as covered?

The naval base (Alice Springs Orbital and Down), being an IN facility,
is covered by the IN's component of the SOFA and is mentioned for
completeness.