Klingon law

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, in which an assassination trial is witnessed, and the Deep Space Nine episode, The House of Quark, in which Quark accidentally kills a Klingon.

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.
• 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.