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"In a part of space where there are few rules, it's more important than ever that we hold fast to our own. In a region where shifting allegiances are commonplace, we have to have something stable to rely on. And we do. The principles and ideals of the Federation. As far as I'm concerned, those are the best allies we could have."
– Kathryn Janeway, 2372 ("Alliances")

Starfleet Command General Orders and Regulations were a series of guidelines used to instruct members of Starfleet on the proper etiquette and policy in a situation that required consultation for a resolution. Part of Federation law, these protocols were the foundation of Starfleet and the responsibility of its officers to uphold and protect, ranging from all manners of duty, such as interstellar diplomacy to punctuation of reports. Violations of protocol could have led to being placed on report, a court martial, demotion of rank, or other reprimands.

These guidelines' fundamental principles were integral for Starfleet officers to help avoid conflicts of interest, (TNG: "Redemption") including one's duty to the truth. (TNG: "The First Duty") Guidelines were useful in many situations, including when flag officers could not be consulted to resolve a situation. (VOY: "Equinox")

Several of the first one-hundred-plus Starfleet Orders were used by the United Earth Starfleet prior to the founding of the Federation. (ENT: "Hatchery")

All these Orders and Regulations cover a lot of possibility, to the point that in 2373, Captain Kathryn Janeway joked with Commander Chakotay about Ensign Hickman imitating her. "Imitating the captain, huh? Surely that violates some kind of Starfleet protocol." (VOY: "Scorpion")

Starfleet Charter Articles

A video entitled Section 31's Appearances Across Star Trek at YouTube from the official Star Trek channel gives the following text to the beginning of Article 14: "Subject to the provisions of Article 12, the General Assembly may recommend measures for the peaceful adjustment of any situation, regardless of origin, which it deems likely to impair the general welfare or friendly relations among nations, including situations resulting from a violation of the provisions of the present Charter setting forth the Purposes and Principles of the United Federation of Planets." This is the same text as Article 14 of the United Nations Charter with only the name of the organization changed. Section 31 of the charter is shown to be "Redacted." No other sections of the charter are shown.

Federation Regulations

Galactic Emergency Procedures

General Orders

General Order 1, Section 1

General Order 1, Section 1

General Order 1, Section 2

General Order 1, Section 2

Section 1:
Starfleet crew will obey the following with any civilization that has not achieved a commensurate level of technological and/or societal development as described in Appendix 1.

  1. No identification of self or mission.
  2. No interference with the social, cultural, or technological development of said planet.
  3. No references to space, other worlds, or advanced civilizations.
  4. The exception to this is if said society has already been exposed to concept, herein. However, in that instance, section 2 applies.

Section 2:
If said species has achieved the commensurate level of technological and/or societal development as described in Appendix 1, or has been exposed to the concepts listed in section 1, no Starfleet crew person will engage with said society or species without first gathering extensive information on the specific traditions, laws, and culture of that species civilization.
Then Starfleet crew will obey the following:

  1. If engaged with diplomatic relations with said culture, will stay within the confines of culture's restrictions.
  2. No interference with the social development of said planet.
The text was taken word for word from the Star Trek: Federation - The First 150 Years.
It was never explained exactly what crime, prohibition, or such this order entailed, though mutiny was not considered to be in violation of this particular order.
See below for more information on general orders and the death penalty.
This order is contradicted by the episodes TOS: "The Omega Glory", "The Ultimate Computer", "The Tholian Web", TNG: "Unnatural Selection", and VOY: "Caretaker" although in regards to the latter, it may have been repealed by 2365.
Again, please see below for more information.
General order 12 in effect (right)

General order 12 in effect (right)

Despite the interruption, it was implied that the order instructed that the ship was supposed to go to red alert when faced with a non-communicative vessel. The novel Rules of Engagement completes this order as follows: "On the approach of any vessel when communications have not been established, Starfleet safety-of-personnel requirements indicate that said vessel should be treated as potentially hostile until proven otherwise, and in consequence a standard defensive posture should be adopted."
Saavik responding to Kirk's retort with understated amusement suggests either that her description of this general order was not accurate and was intended only to help persuade Kirk to allow her on the landing party, or that the regulation existed and Kirk was knowingly trying to circumvent it.
Garth might have explained the spirit of the order when he suggested he gave the order because, in his words, "I could say they were actively hostile towards the Federation."

Starfleet Directives

In Ask Not, Cadet Sidhu cited the regulation without referencing first contact.
This directive is similar to the Seventh Guarantee of the Constitution of the United Federation of Planets, which protected Federation citizens from being compelled to give self-incriminating testimony in legal proceedings.

Starfleet labor code

Starfleet Orders

This might not actually be a real order, as it appeared only in a simulation created by Luther Sloan. Nevertheless, considering the importance of keeping the station under Federation control during the Dominion War, it may also very well have been a real order.

Starfleet Regulations

In the novelization of Equinox, Janeway admits to herself that she made this regulation up; however, its citation by Christopher Pike in "Ask Not" suggests that it is, in fact, a genuine regulation. He also implied "vessel" can be taken to include starbases.
In the novelization of Star Trek, Spock, seeing that Kirk was clearly unfamiliar with the regulation, shrugs and admits that he had almost forgotten what little use the Kirk he knew had for such things.

Starfleet Away Team Guidelines

Starfleet Equipment Protocols

Starfleet Intelligence Procedures

Since this occurred during a holoprogram, it might not have been a real procedure, although there might have been some basis or truth to it given both the severity of the situation and the lack of (initial) resistance from Julian Bashir, the only other real person during the simulation.

Starfleet Medical Protocols

See also

Starfleet Safety Protocols

Harry Kim's reaction suggests that the safety protocol may more precisely be a ban against using transporters while the beaming vessel is at warp and the target vessel is at impulse, or stationary.

Starfleet Security Protocols

During the emergency transmission issued by Federation President Anton Chekov regarding the Borg take over of Starfleet during 2401 Frontier Day, "Protocol: 762-Alpha" can be seen. (PIC: "The Last Generation") It is unknown if there was a relationship between the Protocol and Emergency Order 7-6-2 alpha, which would be executed if Starfleet was ever compromised.

Starfleet Temporal Protocols

Applicable in the event a Starfleet officer stranded in the past:

  1. No interfering with past events.
  2. No sharing knowledge of future. (SNW: "Those Old Scientists")
During review of Temporal Protocol of the 22nd century, La'An mentioned "Do not make any attachment". As implied by unfamilarity from Boimler, it may be a personal recommendation instead of official protocol.

It is unknown if the Protocol is an alternate name for, or part of, the temporal displacement policy and Temporal Prime Directive.

Starfleet Transfer Regulations

According to Leonard McCoy, the captain of a Starfleet vessel had the authority to transfer officers as he pleased, something which could be found in "a hundred volumes of space regulations somewhere." (TOS: "The Conscience of the King") Specific regulations were as follows:

The regulations detailed in this section appeared in the extended edition of "The Measure Of A Man". In the audio commentary included on the TNG Season 2 Blu-ray set, Mike Okuda describes this set of regulations as "a list of Navy regulations with the word 'Starfleet' substituted for 'Navy'."

Starfleet Treaty Protocols

Starfleet/Federation Codes

Regulations not specified by name or number

Health-related

Relationships

Miscellaneous

There were no specifics relating to this particular protocol, but the implication from Captain Janeway was that an official letter could not be ignored.

Fictional

Jean-Luc Picard quoting Starfleet Regulation 6

Jean-Luc Picard quoting Starfleet Regulation 6.57 to Radue

Appendices

Background information

As referred to in the revised final draft script of TOS: "Court Martial", "Regulations 7, Subsection D" related to courts martial. It did not allow the defense to call a witness to provide testimony prior to the prosecution resting its case. The regulation was cited by Areel Shaw during Kirk's court martial at Starbase 11.

In the revised final draft script of TNG: "Evolution", "Protocol 'B'" was said to regulate how crew members could access all power components on a starship if they were no longer deemed reliable.

The Star Trek Encyclopedia, 4th ed., vol. 2, p. 180 has a picture of a prop made for Admiral Pike's office in Star Trek Into Darkness. This prop has text for the first three Starfleet General Orders. The prop might or might not have appeared in the film. These general orders were written by Chris Gray and modified by Chris St. John. [1] The text was slightly edited by the individual who made the prop for the film.

"The only death penalty"

Varying statements about the status of the death penalty in the Federation and General Orders regarding it have been given in the Star Trek canon. Notably, at different times both General Order 4 and General Order 7 were said to be the only death penalty left.

"The Menagerie, Part I", set in 2267, introduced general order 7 as "the only death penalty left on our books". As it was specific to Talos IV, it was presumably instituted after Captain Pike's 2254 mission to the planet. However, in "Turnabout Intruder", set in 2269, Sulu stated "The death penalty is forbidden. There's only one exception", which turned out to be general order 4 (the nature of which remains unspecified).

Further complicating the situation, in DIS: "Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum", Admiral Katrina Cornwell explained Starfleet's policy on prisoners of war to L'Rell, stating that "the Federation has no death penalty". This episode is set in late 2256 or early 2257, after Pike's visit to Talos IV but before "The Menagerie", thus making it unclear as to when the death penalty for visiting Talos IV was established. In DIS: "If Memory Serves", the planet was said to be off limits, and the Discovery crew faced disciplinary action after visiting it, but no mention was made of General Order 4 or the death penalty.

Regarding the two General Orders each stated to be the only death penalty, if relations with the Talosians had not changed, it could be that one of the two General Orders might have been made to include other planets which might be a threat to the Federation like Talos IV. It is also possible that, in "Turnabout Intruder", Chekov misspoke. In the PC game Star Trek: 25th Anniversary, the USS Enterprise computer states that General Order 4 is sometimes confused with General Order 7 and the death penalty associated with it more generally refers to high treason.

Apocrypha

Invoked by Kirk during the argument which would lead to his banishment from the Enterprise, this was, at face value, the same thing as Regulation 619 – though given Kirk's clear unfamiliarity with 619, as stated above, it is possible that Kirk was aware that such a regulation existed, but incorrectly remembered the number.

See also

External link