On 30/11/23 07:25, Jim Vassilakos - jim.vassilakos at gmail.com (via tml
list) wrote:
> Apologies, but this one gets a bit long. To get the gist, scroll down
> to the end.
>
> I'm running a PBEM where the main character is an Imperial Navy
> Captain on Jewell. This takes place during peacetime, after the 5FW.
> Jewell is a high law level world (a 9, I believe), so the local police
> don't take a lot of guff. It's not like in the USA where if somebody
> has a drug-fueled heart attack while in custody, the cops end up going
> to jail.
>
> So, what happened is there was some minor bureaucratic snafu with the
> Captain's visa requiring detention, and another captain who he
> happened to be with got verbally belligerent with the local cops
> outside the extrality line (so technically outside Imperial
> jurisdiction). From the POV of the cops, this qualified as resisting
> arrest, so they tased the captains, but not before the protagonist
> called in his marines, who ended up rushing in to free their Captain.
>
> <snip background>
>
> (So what do you think? Do locals have the authority to arrest active
> duty Imperial Navy Captains outside the extrality zone of Starports
> and whatnot? And if they don't agree to be arrested, do Captains have
> the option of invoking some article of Imperial law to overrule the
> local police? How would you rule on this if you were the referee?)
>
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Jim,
I'd have to agree with the previous commenters - this would fall
_squarely_ under a status of forces agreement, as coloured by any
tensions between the local government, the locals themselves, and the
3I.  The arrestee's chain of command might also get involved.

IIRC, in OTL firstworld countries, diplomats and the like can generally
still be arrested for bitz like drink/drug driving (stuff that poses an
imminent safety hazard).

As such, my read would be the 3I Standard SOFA would probably
blanket-apply a visa or similar permission for at least all active-duty
servicecritters and others on service business, putting your original
situation, but not question, in the realm of "When did you stop beating
your husband?"
The exceptions would have to be due either to public safety, or to that
particular system's membership treaty with the 3I, which gives you the
GM, room to play all _sorts_ of silly buggers.
Woe betide Captain Sir Bob Oliver Francis Howard, IN, KS, running
similarly afoul of the local authorities on Muan Issler (despite law
level 6) - the Vegans have had at least _five millennia_ of practice (as
at 3I Golden Age) at passive resistance.

How would your situation play out on (frinstance) Terra in 1109 Imperial
(planet under tail end of military rule), or three years later (after
the hangover from the end-of-military-rule celebrations has mostly
subsided)?

Assuming the malfeasant officer in question is not also an active high
Imperial noble _within the bounds of their demesne_,  I would have the
local coppers quite able (and in this case, willing) to slap bracelets
on, drag the sod in, and _then_ let Captain Pissed-Parrot prove their
bona fides (such as via the local liasion office) and get released on
jurisdictional grounds.
I further expect Pissed-Parrot's immediate superior, or whoever had to
deal with the fallout, to wax _quite_ sarcastic at said malfeasant, on
grounds of questionable judgement.

Alex