Universal Legal Profile

The Universal Legal Profile (ULP) is an IISS method of measuring the specifics of a world's Law Level.

• It is a kind of metric.

Description (Specifications)

It is a seven digit code (a primary code followed by a dash and a six digit extension) representing six areas in which the Law Level of a world is applied, the primary digit is generally equal to the overall listed Law Level, and represents general degree of severity and enforcement. The other six may vary somewhat in the level of restriction, and apply more specifically to the listed categories. A high overall Law Level with low specific categories implies a world that does not restrict much, but severely enforces and punishes the few things that it does. In contrast, a low overall Law Level combined with higher general categories describes a world with many extensive restrictions on its books, but which does not go to great lengths to enforce or punish them.

The table below lists the various categories of things that Law Level restricts the use and/or possession of, in order to achieve a peaceful society. ^†

The ULP Extension (Lx): L - W D I Te Tr P

Code	Description
L	Overall Law Level (UWP) - Enforcement/Severity
W	Weapons
D	Drugs
I	Information
Te	Technology
Tr	Travellers
P	Psionics

• Overall Law Level (L): Overall Law Level is the Law Level score found within the planetary Universal World Profile (UWP). The Overall Law Level represents the general level of severity and degree of diligence in enforcement that can be expected from officials tasked with the duties of Law Enforcement. Low overall Law Level is a general indication that enforcement is relatively lax, and that as long as Travellers use common sense, they will likely not encounter problems. High overall Law Levels tend to indicate that Travellers are likely to routinely encounter investigations and challenges from Law Enforcement and/or run afoul of the Law, and that the local laws are likely to be stringently enforced. High Overall Law combined with Low Law category scores likely represents a situation in which the government puts forth relatively few regulations, but the few regulations that are promulgated are stringently enforced. Conversely, Low Overall Law combined with HiIgh Law category scores likely represents a situation in which the government puts forth many regulations but is relatively lax and laissez-faire concerning their actual enforcement, usually letting offenders off easy when they do bother to intervene.

• Weapons (W): Governments banning weapons begin with the restriction of weapons of terror and mass destruction at low Law Levels and then moves on to personal weapons with increasing Law Level. Governments will also often ban armor, either with a view that an overly militarized appearance tends to attract trouble or is evidence of someone looking for trouble, or is a defense against the governement's own military and paramilitary and law enforcement forces.

• Drugs (D): Governments banning drugs generally begin with narcotics at low Law Levels but medicinal and anagathic pharmaceuticals may be banned at higher Law Levels.

• Information (I): Governments seeking to control information access begin by restricting the use of computers and computer programs, especially information-retrieval and information-control systems at low Law Levels. At higher Law Levels, bringing data from off-world or even communicating with natives can be forbidden.

• Technology (Te): Governments banning technology seek to shield its citizens from the influence of advanced technology, often to either maintain a technologicaly elevated rulership or to maintain a pastoral and harmonious society which may or may not have been mutually agreed upon by the original founders of the local civilization.

• Travellers (Tr): Governments banning Travellers restrict the ability of outsiders to visit the world, confining them to the starport or forbidding landing entirely.

• Psionics (P): Governments restricting psionics generally begin by enacting regulations against their secret use at low Law Levels, moving to registration of and potential monitoring of users at mid-Law Levels. HiIgh Law Level worlds may actively hunt and either deport or otherwise take measures to ensure that such individuals are rendered unable to ever use their abilites again. The most extreme measures can include Capital Punishments such as lobotomization or death. Government restrictions on psionics are common within the Imperium and most worlds ban psionics as a matter of course. On other worlds, psionics may be technically legal but there is such prejudice against it that most psionic users hide their abilities. The Imperium maintains a standard blanket Imperial Law Level of 7 concerning Psionics usage.

In general, the Imperium maintains a default Law Level of 1 in most categories (with some particular exceptions that are consider "High" or "Imperial Crimes"), which is the level observed in most Imperial Starports. As noted above, the exception to this is the Psionics category, which the Imperium regulates at Law Level 7. Since within Imperial Space Imperial Law supersedes Local Law, local authorities are expected to enforce Imperial Law or cooperate with Imperial authorities in the enforcement thereof. The reality, at least in some regions as well as on the frontier, is that the level of such enforcement is spotty at best and is more often than not reflected by a combination of the local Law Level in the affected Category combined with the Overall Law Level value in terms of the relative level of vigor in enforcement. Practically speaking, the Imperial general Law Level of 1 is nominally only in force within direct Imperial jurisdictions (and is modified on a case-by-case basis depending upon the locale or facility), but the only Local Law level that would potentially be overridden by these restrictions would be worlds under Law Level 0, which would not likely be enforcing any laws in any meaningful fashion in any case.

History & Background (Dossier)

Most sophont species develop some form of laws, customs or taboos during their climb to civilization. Laws, Customs and Taboos develop over time and are intended to mediate sophont behaviour. They are designed to enable sophonts to live together in large groups without unnecessary friction, often the cause of uncontrolled anger and violence.

^† Referees should roll Law Level separately for each.

References & Contributors (Sources)

This article is missing content for one or more detailed sections. Additional details are required to complete the article. You can help the Traveller Wiki by expanding it.

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Mongoose Publishing or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.

• Gary L. Thomas. Grand Census (Digest Group Publications, 1987), .
• Gareth Hanrahan. Core Rulebook (Mongoose Publishing, 2008), 167ff.
• Matthew Sprange. Core Rule Book (Mongoose Publishing, 2016), 252-257 (Update 2022).
• Traveller Wiki Editorial Team