Charter of the United Federation of Planets

The Charter of the United Federation of Planets (Federation Charter for short) was the document that was ratified by the original members of the United Federation of Planets at that organization's founding in 2161. Jonathan Archer was one of the signers of the charter. (ENT: "These Are the Voyages...")

It is possible that the charter which Archer signed in "These Are the Voyages..." was not the Federation charter, but the charter for an earlier interspecies alliance, perhaps the Coalition of Planets. This is evidenced by Deanna Troi's comment that she wished she could tell those viewing the signing that the alliance would "give birth to the Federation."

In 2372, Benjamin Sisko pointed out to Akorem Laan that if Akorem, as emissary, guided the people of Bajor towards using the d'jarra caste system, it would prevent them from joining the Federation, as the Charter forbids institutionalized caste discrimination. (DS9:"Accession")

The Charter is sometimes referred to as the Constitution*, and it contains a series of Guarantees of basic civil rights and liberties. The Seventh Guarantee is a protection against self-incrimination, and is analagous to the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. (TNG:"The Drumhead")

It's possible that when Constitution is mentioned that it is a reference to a larger body of documents including the Federation Charter, as the Federation Charter was probably originally a looser and less binding agreement between the governments of Earth, Vulcan, Andor, Tellar, and Alpha Centauri.

Partial Text

The Federation Charter, as seen aboard the USS Voyager.

While trapped in The Void in 2377, USS Voyager captain Kathryn Janeway used the Federation Charter as an example to form the basis of a multi-species alliance to help many of the trapped ships escape the Void. (VOY: "The Void")

Visible on her screen is the following text:

CHARTER OF THE UNITED FEDERATION OF PLANETS

We the life forms of the United Federation of Planets determined

to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, and

to reaffirm faith in the fundamental rights of sentient beings, in the dignity and worth of
all life forms, in the equal rights of members of planetary systems large and small, and

to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from
treaties and other sources of interstellar law can be maintained, and

to promote social progress and better standards of living on all worlds,

The remainder is not visible. The above text is a rewording of the United Nations charter, altered via the use of more expansive and inclusive words in place of human- and Earth-centric terms.

Footnote

• Articles of Federation: The Star Fleet Technical Manual, now considered apocryphal, features the "Articles of Federation", a Federation charter. Just as was the case for "The Void", Franz Joseph revised the UN Charter text. His phrasings and word choice were, however, significantly different.