The Interstellar Relations of the Federation: International Law and Star Trek: The Next Generation

Abstract

A recent University of Toledo Law Review article concerning the legal issues
dealt with in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation (STNG)
became an overnight national sensation. Given that, during its seven seasons of
first-run episodes; STNG had been the most popular syndicated series on
American television, it is perhaps not surprising that the article should engender
so much public attention. The article, written by law professors Paul Joseph and Sharon Carton of Nova Southeastern University Law School, was not intended as however. Rather, it was a serious examination of the way STNG United Federation of Planets dealt with such weighty legal issues as the right to privacy, the right to life and rights to sexual orientation as an implicit for commentary on the salient issues facing American courts in the 1990s.

Keywords: Star Trek, international law