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Article VIII: Discipline of All Officers
- Discipline Generally: It is anticipated that from time to time, it will be necessary to discipline officers for both in-character (IC) and out-of–character (OOC) acts. Discipline is to be administrated and shall take place in accord with the provisions of this section. Failure to abide by the provisions of this section, either procedurally or substantively shall be grounds for review by the appropriate body or individual and itself an actionable offense if a particular individual is responsible for an intentional breach of this article in the administration or enforcement of discipline.
- Discipline of Cadets, Ensigns, Lt. Jr. Grade, Lt., and Lt. Commanders (as well as all corresponding marine ranks): The discipline of such officers is left to the Sole Discretion of the vessel command officer, as long as said officer officially holds the rank of commander or above and has been officially recognized as being the command officer of said vessel. It is recognized that in the course of commanding vessels, such decisions must be made on an expedited basis to preserve discipline and for that reason the command officers are vested with extraordinary discretion in this regard. Discipline levied in this fashion is subject to the appeals processes discussed hereafter.
- Discipline of Commanders. The discipline of a full commander is the sole province of the vessel command officer appointed above him unless the commander is himself solely in charge of a vessel or installation. In the former case, the appeals process is as discussed hereafter and as set forth in the subsection above. In the latter case, the discipline shall be in all manners conducted as if the officer in question held the rank of captain as discussed in subsections hereafter. Although formal approval or ratification by the EC of a disciplinary decision herein contemplated shall not be required, the actions of the captain shall themselves be subject to discipline if they so merit.
- Discipline for Captains. The discipline of the captain shall be commenced by, administrated by and concluded by the EC.
- Grounds for Discipline. All officers, irrespective of rank, may at the discretion of the appropriate individual(s) be disciplined for committing one or more of the following acts; however, it is recognized that, with specifically pre-arranged and duly recorded discussion, such acts may be purposefully committed for simulation plot purposes, in which case scrupulous and copious records shall be kept to protect the actor in such situations:
- Violation of the rules applicable to subsequent or additional characters as discussed in Article V.
- Discriminatory remarks, including but not limited to remarks directed at a persons inchoate qualities, such as race, religion, ethnicity, gender, blood status, sexual orientation, species, etc.
- Rude or abusive language disproportionate to the issue at hand and at the discretion of the disciplining authority.
- Intentional deceit in the course of conduct either IC or OOC.
- Public breaks with discipline, such as questioning the decisions of a superior officer in or out of character in an improper or disrespectful way at the discretion of the disciplining authority.
- Misrepresentation on any portion of the application for membership.
- Disobeying IC or OOC Orders.
- Other such acts as may from time to time be deemed inappropriate or incompatible with the philosophy and purposes of the United Federation of Planets;
- Any act which appears to or purports to violate any Article or subsection of this CONSTITUTION;
- Impersonation or purposeful misrepresentation of a rank inconsistent with ranks awarded.
- Methods of discipline. Discipline may take one or more of the following forms at the discretion of the disciplining authority.
- Private letter of reprimand;
- Public letter of reprimand;
- Suspension from simulation for a set period;
- Involuntary transfer;
- Reduction in rank;
- Expulsion from the vessel or installation without expulsion from UFOP; and
- Expulsion from UFOP.
- Characters expelled are, it is recognized, linked to real people and it is the real person as well as to the character that the admonitions in Article V apply.
- Appeals may be made in writing via e-mail to either the disciplining authority who shall immediately and on his honor forward notice of said appeal to the appropriate reviewing individual or authority or such appeals may be made directly to the appeal authority if such is known to the disciplined individual. In the case of all officers of commanders rank or below, the appeal of a captain’s decision to discipline shall be made to the captain’s council.
- For all officers below the rank of captain, appeal of first resort shall be to the CC, whose appeal decision shall not be disturbed upon further review by the EC unless it shall appear that the CC acted in a manner to create a clear and convincing miscarriage of justice.
- For all captains (or commanders acting as captains but not under the direct command of a captain) who may be disciplined by the CC, appeal shall be to the EC. If said captain or commander acting as a captain has been disciplined directly by the EC, the appeal shall be to that body for a petition of reconsideration.
- For all flag officers who have been disciplined by the EC, a petition for reconsideration shall be made once and only once, acted upon and finally disposed of.
- There shall only be one appeal by any individual of any rank to one body. The appeal decision of the reviewing body shall be final and shall finally dispose of the matter without recourse to further appeals.
- In the event of an appeal request either received by the disciplining authority and forwarded to the appeal authority or received directly by the appeal authority, the authority shall convene, discuss and resolve the matter in accord with the voting provisions set forth in earlier Articles.
- Provisions concerning the discipline of flag officers: It is anticipated that the discipline of a flag officer shall be regarded as a significant event and any conduct which may occasion such disciplinary processes correspondingly dire. Any captain or lower rank may report conduct unbecoming a flag officer to the EC, which shall immediately convene an informal inquiry to determine the sufficiency of the allegation, formal vote sufficing if informal discussion cannot resolve the question. If the allegation shall be deemed Meritorious, i.e., there is no more than a scintilla of evidence to suggest the charge be true, then the EC shall have the option of voting to dismiss the charge and to ignore all further charges based upon the same operative facts. If the EC deems the charge to be clearly without merit and motivated either by carelessness as to that lack of merit or intentional conduct, the complainant may himself be disciplined in accordance with this article.
- If, however, upon informal inquiry the EC shall decide the matter to have sufficient probable cause that it might be true, the EC shall convene to debate the matter and make inquiry of the charged party, the complaining party and all witnesses before privately retiring to deliberate and render a decision. The magistrate for the EC shall advise the charged party whether and if a decision is made. If the charged party is a member of the EC, the captain at large shall be vested with full voting powers concerning the charged EC member.
- Petitions for Reconsideration: A petition for reconsideration is made when an individual of sufficiently high rank has been disciplined and there exists no higher appeal authority which may review the disciplinary decision. A petition may also be made on a one time basis to any lower body by a lower rank which shall be acted on as detailed in this article. Within twenty days of the disciplinary decision being appealed, the individual may transmit via e-mail to any member of the disciplining authority a petition for reconsideration stating what facts, information or arguments the disciplining authority failed to consider and may ask that the disciplining authority convene a formal debate and vote to consider the application. The vote on said application shall be conducted in accord with the voting provisions heretofore discussed and shall be deemed final upon completion. No further appeal is possible to any body.
- In no event shall any act or omission be the grounds of a discipline which discipline is not commenced within thirty days from the date of discovery by any authority empowered to discipline.
- In administering any discipline or in deciding any appeal or petition for reconsideration, the reviewing authority shall not only consider the record of the discipline and any discussion or findings relevant thereto, but also the past service record and past discipline record of the subject officer.
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