The Will to Battle (Terra Ignota, #3)

by Ada Palmer

‘Therefore the Human Assembly, embodied in the Senate of the Universal Free Alliance, assembled in accordance with the Carlyle Compromise, proclaims this LIST OF UNIVERSAL LAWS, which represents the extreme minimum of restrictions which Reason and Experience prove necessary for the continued welfare of the human race. [Amendment of 11/12/2239: Except for the Eighth Law] all human beings are equally subject to these Universal Laws, and all Authorities established by the human species for its governance and protection are equally empowered to enforce them upon those who have chosen to subject themselves to said Authorities. This same Human Assembly hereby institutes the UNIVERSAL FREE COURT to be a final court of appeal to protect and enforce these Universal Laws when all other civil authorities fail, and grants to the Court those powers necessary to carry out this mandate. “‘Whosoever, being of sound and mature mind, should, with full understanding or through gross negligence, violate or attempt to violate one of these Universal Laws, if that person is not appropriately punished by some other Authority, may be detained, tried, and, in the absence of mitigating circumstances, appropriately punished by the Universal Free Court.’