Prime Directive

The Prime Directive is Starfleet's first general order. It is the most important law in Starfleet, the law of noninterference. Violation of the Prime Directive is a felony offense that carries harsh punishment unless sufficient cause for the violation is found.

Overview
The Prime Directive states that Starfleet officers must refrain from interfering with the internal affairs of other civilizations, especially the natural development of pre-warp civilizations, either by direct intervention or technological revelation. While studying a planet's civilization and/or performing a planetary survey, the Prime Directive clearly states that there is to be "No identification of self or mission. No interference with the social development of said planet. No references to space, other worlds, or advanced civilizations." Starfleet officers must understand that the natural development of a species is an unalienable right and must make any sacrifice necessary to preserve that natural development, even at the cost of their own life.

Initially, the Prime Directive applied to both Starfleet and Federation civilians, but it soon came to apply only to Starfleet and was not enforced on civilians. Under the Prime Directive, Starfleet crews cannot remove or interfere with civilians who have already interfered with a species' natural development. Violating the Directive can result in court-martial for the offending officer(s).

The Prime Directive was originally intended to be a shield for primitive worlds. However, if such a world were in danger, Starfleet would send ships to save the planet, provided it could be done without violating the Prime Directive.

The Prime Directive was later amended to prevent Starfleet from interfering, even if non-interference would result in the extinction of a species or destruction of all life on a planet or in a planetary system. By the 24th century, Starfleet was applying the Prime Directive to warp-capable civilizations, refusing to interfere with any internal affairs at all.

There are two general exceptions to the Prime Directive.

The first is cases where an extreme threat to the Federation exists. General Order 24 authorizes a starship captain to order the destruction of an entire world or civilization under certain circumstances, and the Omega Directive is triggered when a starship encounters an Omega Molecule. Both of these directives supersede the Prime Directive.

The second is in the event that a protected civilization has already been exposed to advanced technology and off-world civilizations. In cases like this, Starfleet Officers will often attempt to repair the damage done by either inadvertent or intentional interference.

Some captains believe that the Prime Directive only applies to growing civilizations and will choose to violate it in cases of arrested culture, where society fails to advance. This view has slowly fallen out of favor, with fewer captains willing to violate the directive in any fasion.