Discommendation is a legal penalty in the Klingon Empire in which an individual is ceremonially stripped of honor and is severely reduced in social status with few rights in Klingon society.
The ceremony in which this punishment is meted out is simple. The highest-ranked Klingon crosses his or her arms and turns his or her back on the recipient while others follow suit one by one until almost all Klingons have their backs turned. The speed of this gesture varies, from formal ceremonies which are done slowly to summary punishments which can occur as quick as the Klingons in judgment can move.
There have been at least two occurrences reported. The first incident was when Worf's father was posthumously accused of treason and Worf came to the Klingon High Council to challenge that ruling. When Worf learned that the House of Duras was actually responsible, he accepted discommendation in order to avoid the scandal from sparking a civil war. When a civil war began of its own accord, Gowron was persuaded to restore Worf's honor. (TNG: "Sins of the Father")
The second incident was when Quark was maneuvered into marrying Grilka, whose husband, Kozak, he had inadvertently killed. After Quark learned and revealed that D'Ghor had committed a serious case of fraud, the Klingon responded to the accusation by challenging him to a duel. Knowing that he was no match for D'Ghor in combat, he tried a bold stratagem. At the moment of the duel's commencement, he threw down his weapon and freely offered his life to his opponent noting that he could not prove his accusation in this manner. When D'Ghor was about to kill Quark, Gowron intervened and had him discommendated on the spot for the dishonorable act of attempting to kill an unresisting opponent. D'Ghor was exiled with a ruined social status, and Quark gained considerable admiration as an atypically courageous Ferengi. (DS9: "The House of Quark")
- The Klingon Dictionary refers to this as naDHa'ghach in Klingonese.