The Articles are read out every Sabbath, after the worship services enjoined in Article 1, but before the Captain's Mast and the subsequent administration of punishment.

1. All commanders and other officers in or belonging to any Constitutional Dominion Navy ship or vessel of war shall allow, help and hasten the public worship of the Benevolent Gods of the Known Spheres, according to the ecumenical liturgy established by law, shall solemnly, orderly and reverently perform such worship services as regulation and custom dictate in each of their respective ships or vessels, and shall with all due diligence take care that prayers and preaching are regularly performed, and that a day of Sacred Reverence shall be observed every eighth day according to law.

2. All flag officers, and all persons in or belonging to any Constitutional Dominion Navy ship or vessel of war being guilty of profane oaths, cursings, execrations, drunkenness, uncleanness, or other scandalous actions, in derogation of honour and causing the corruption of good manners, shall incur such punishment as a court martial shall think fit to impose, and as the nature and degree of their offence shall deserve.

3. If any officer, spacefarer, marine, or other person of the fleet, shall give, hold, or entertain intelligence to or with any enemy or rebel, without explicit leave from a formally authorised agent of the Grand Council and endorsed by a duly recognised member of the Admiralty, then every such person so offending, and being thereof convicted by the sentence of a court martial, shall be punished with death.

4. If any letter of message from any enemy or rebel be conveyed to any officer, spacefarer, marine or other person in the fleet, and the said officer, spacefarer, marine, or other as aforesaid, shall not, within twelve hours, having opportunity so to do, acquaint his superior or a commanding officer, or if any superior officer being acquainted therewith, shall not in convenient time reveal the same to the commander in chief of the squadron, every such person so offending, and being convicted thereof by the sentence of the court martial, shall be punished with death, or such other punishment as the nature and degree of the offence shall deserve, and the court martial shall impose.

5. All spies, and all persons whatsoever, who shall come, or be found, in the nature of spies, to bring or deliver any seducing letters or messages from any enemy or rebel, or endeavour to corrupt any commander, officer, spacefarer, marine or other in the fleet, to betray his trust, being convicted of any such offence by the sentence of the court martial, shall be punished with death, or such other punishment, as the nature and degree of the offence shall deserve, and the court martial shall impose.

6. No person in the fleet shall succour an enemy or rebel with money, victuals, powder, shot, arms, ammunition, or any other supplies whatsoever, directly or indirectly, upon pain of death, or such other punishment as the court martial shall think fit to impose, and as the nature and degree of the crime shall deserve.

7. All the papers, charter parties, bills of lading, passports, and other writings whatsoever, that shall be taken, seized, or found aboard any ship or ships which shall be surprised or taken as prize, shall be duly preserved, and the very originals shall by the commanding officer of the ship which shall take such prize, be sent entirely, and without fraud, to the court of the Admiralty, or such other court of commissioners, as shall be authorised to determine whether such prize be lawful capture, there to be viewed, made use of, and proceeded upon according to law, upon pain that every person offending herein, shall forfeit and lose his share of the capture, and shall suffer such further punishment, as the nature and degree of his offence shall be found to deserve, and the court martial shall impose.

8. No person in or belonging to the fleet shall take out of any prize, or ship seized for prize, any money, plate, or goods, unless it shall be necessary for the better securing thereof, or for the necessary use and service of any Constitutional Dominion Navy ship or vessel of war before the same be adjudged lawful prize in some Admiralty court, but the full and entire account of the whole, without embezzlement, shall be brought in, and judgement passed entirely upon the whole without fraud, upon pain that every person offending thus shall forfeit and lose his share of the capture, and suffer such further punishment as shall be imposed by a court martial, or such court of Admiralty, according to the nature and degree of the offence.

9. Every flag officer, captain and commander in the fleet, who, upon signal or order of fight, or sight of any ship or ships which it may be his duty to engage, or who, upon likelihood of engagement, shall not make the necessary preparations for fight, and shall not in his own person, and according to his place, encourage the inferior officers and men to fight courageously, shall suffer death, or such other punishment, as from the nature and degree of the offence a court martial shall deem him to deserve, and if any person in the fleet shall treacherously or cowardly yield or cry for quarter, every person so offending, and being convicted thereof by the sentence of a court martial, shall suffer death.

10. Every person in the fleet who shall not duly observe the orders of the admiral, flag officer, commander of any squadron or division, or other his superior officer for assailing, joining battle with, or making defence against any fleet, squadron, or ship, or shall not obey the orders of his superior officer as aforesaid in the time of action, to the best of his power, or shall not use all possible endeavours to put the same effectually into execution, every person so offending, and being convicted thereof by the sentence of the court martial, shall suffer death, or such other punishment, as from the nature and degree of the offence, a court martial shall deem him to deserve.

11. Every person in the fleet, who through cowardice, negligence, or disaffection, shall in time of action withdraw or keep back, or not come into the fight or engagement, or shall not do his utmost to take or destroy every ship which it shall be his duty to engage, or to fail to assist and relieve any and all Constitutional Dominion Navy ships or vessels of war and all Dominion allies which it shall be his duty to assist and relieve, every such person so offending, and being convicted thereof by the sentence of a court martial, shall suffer death.

12. Every person in the fleet, who though cowardice, negligence, or disaffection, shall forbear to pursue the chase of any enemy, pirate or rebel, beaten or flying; or shall not relieve or assist a known friend in view to the utmost of his power; being convicted of any such offence by the sentence of a court martial, shall suffer death.

13. If when action, or any service shall be commanded, any person in the fleet shall demonstrably delay or discourage the said action or service, upon pretence of arrears of wages, or upon any pretence whatsoever, every person so offending, being convicted thereof by the sentence of the court martial, shall suffer death, or such other punishment, as from the nature and degree of the offence a court martial shall deem him to deserve.

14. Every person in or belonging to the fleet, who shall desert to the enemy, pirate, or rebel, or run away with any Constitutional Dominion Navy ship or vessel of war or any ordnance, ammunition, stores, or provision belonging thereto, to the weakening of the service, or yield up the same cowardly or treacherously to the enemy, pirate, or rebel, being convicted of any such offence by the sentence of the court martial, shall suffer death.

15. Every person in or belonging to the fleet, who shall desert or entice others so to do, shall suffer death, or such other punishment as the circumstances of the offence shall deserve, and a court martial shall judge fit, and furthermore, if any commanding officer of any Constitutional Dominion Navy ship or vessel of war shall receive or entertain a deserter from any other Constitutional Dominion Navy ship or vessel of war, after discovering him to be such deserter, and shall not with all convenient speed give notice to the commander of the ship or vessel to which such deserter belongs; or if the said ships or vessels are at any considerable distance from each other, to the secretary of the Admiralty, or to the commander in chief, every person so offending, and being convicted thereof by the sentence of the court martial, shall be cashiered.

16. The officers and seamen of all ships appointed for convoy and guard of merchant ships, or of any other, shall diligently attend upon that charge, without delay, according to their instructions in that behalf, and whosoever shall be faulty therein, and shall not faithfully perform their duty, and defend the ships and goods in their convoy, without either diverting to other parts or occasions, or refusing or neglecting to fight in their defence if they be assailed, or running away cowardly, and submitting the ships in their convoy to peril and hazard; or shall demand or exact any money or other reward from any merchant or master for convoying any ships or vessels entrusted to their care, or shall misuse the masters or mariners thereof; shall be condemned to make reparation of the damage to the merchants, owners, and others, as the court of Admiralty shall adjudge, and also be punished criminally according to the quality of their offences, be it by pains of death, or other punishment, according as shall be adjudged fit by the court martial.

17. If any captain, commander, or other officer of any Constitutional Dominion Navy ship or vessel of war, shall receive on board, or permit to be received on board such ship or vessel, any goods or merchandises whatsoever, other than for the sole use of the ship or vessel, except gold, silver, or jewels, and except the goods and merchandises belonging to any merchant, or other ship or vessel which may be shipwrecked, or in imminent danger of being shipwrecked, either on the high seas, or in any port, creek, or harbour, in order to the preserving them for their proper owners, and except such goods or merchandises as he shall at any time be ordered to take or receive on board by order of the Admiralty, or by a duly recognised representative of the Admiralty executing that office, every person so offending, being convicted thereof by the sentence of the court martial shall be cashiered, and be for ever afterwards rendered incapable to serve in any place or office in the Constitutional Dominion Navy.

18. If any person in or belonging to the fleet shall make or endeavour to make any mutinous assembly upon any pretence whatsoever, every person offending herein, and being convicted thereof by the sentence of the court martial, shall suffer death. If any person in or belonging to the fleet shall utter any words of sedition or mutiny, he shall suffer death, or such other punishment as a court martial shall deem him to deserve. If any officer, spacefarer, marine or other on or belonging to the fleet, shall behave himself with contempt to his superior officer, being in the execution of his office, he shall be punished according to the nature of his offence by the judgement of a court martial.

19. If any person in the fleet shall conceal any traitorous or mutinous practice or design, being convicted thereof by the sentence of a court martial, he shall suffer death, or any other punishment as a court martial shall think fit, and if any person, in or belonging to the fleet, shall conceal any traitorous or mutinous words spoken by any, to the prejudice of the government of the Constitutional Dominion of Illuminated Spheres or to the Constitutional Dominion Navy or any words, practice, or design, tending to the hindrance of the service, and shall not forthwith reveal the same to the commanding officer, or being present at any mutiny or sedition, shall not use his utmost endeavours to suppress the same, he shall be punished as a court martial shall think he deserves.

20. If any person in the fleet shall find cause of complaint of the unwholesomeness of the victual, or upon other just ground, he shall quietly make the same known to his superior, or captain, or commander in chief, as the occasion may deserve, that such present remedy may be had as the matter may require, and the said superior, captain, or commander in chief, shall, as far as he is able, cause the same to be presently remedied, and no person in the fleet, upon any such or other pretence, shall attempt to stir up any disturbance, upon pain of such punishment, as a court martial shall think fit to inflict, according to the degree of the offence.

21. If any officer, spacefarer, marine or other person in the fleet shall strike any of his superior officers, or draw, or offer to draw, or lift up any weapon against him, being in the execution of his office, on any pretence whatsoever, every such person being convicted of any such offence, by the sentence of a court martial, shall suffer death or such punishment as a court martial shall think fit to inflict, according to the degree of the offence; and if any officer, spacefarer, marine or other person in the fleet, shall presume to quarrel with any of his superior officers, being in the execution of his office, or shall disobey any lawful command of any of his superior officers; every such person being convicted of any such offence, by the sentence of a court martial, shall suffer death, or such other punishment, as shall, according to the nature and degree of his offence, be inflicted upon him by the sentence of a court martial.

22. If any person in the fleet shall quarrel or fight with any other person in the fleet, or use reproachful or provoking speeches or gestures, tending to make any quarrel or disturbance, he shall, upon being convicted thereof, suffer such punishment as the offence shall deserve, and a court martial shall impose.

23. There shall be no wasteful expenditure of any powder, shot, ammunition, or other stores in the fleet, nor any embezzlement thereof, but the stores and provisions shall be careful preserved , upon pain of such punishment to be inflicted upon the offenders, abettors, buyers and receivers (being persons subject to naval discipline) as shall be by a court martial found just in that behalf.

24. Every person in the fleet, who shall unlawfully burn or set fire to any magazine or store of powder, or ship, boat, ketch, hoy or vessel, or tackle or furniture thereunto belonging, not then appertaining to an enemy, pirate, or rebel, being convicted of any such offence, by the sentence of a court martial, shall suffer death or the pain of such punishment as a court martial shall think fit to inflict, according to the degree of the offence.

25. Care shall be taken in the conducting and steering, both by Helm and by sail, of any Constitutional Dominion Navy ship or vessel, that through wilfulness, negligence, carelessness or other defaults, no ship be lost or stranded within or between the Spheres, or crashed upon any rocks or sands or waterless expanses, or split or hazarded, or otherwise rendered unfit for service upon pain, that such as shall be found guilty therein, be punished by death, or such other punishment as the offence by a court martial shall be judged to deserve.

26. No person in or belonging to the fleet shall sleep upon his watch, or negligently perform the duty imposed on him, or forsake his station, upon pain of death, or such other punishment as a court martial shall think fit to impose, and as the circumstances of the case shall require.

27. All murders committed in cold blood and with intent and malice aforethought or with an abandoned and malignant heart or during the performance of another grievous felonious act, against any person being in and under the Dominion's peace, committed by any person in the fleet, shall be punished with death by the sentence of a court martial. Unlawful killings without malice or intent as discovered by impartial inquest, and the offender such as shall be found guilty thereby, shall be punished by death, or by such other punishment as the offence by a court martial shall be judged to deserve.

28. If any person in the fleet shall commit the unnatural and detestable sin of bestiality, he shall be punished with death, or such other punishment as a court martial shall think fit to impose, and as the circumstances of the case shall require.

29. If any person in the fleet shall commit the unnatural and detestable sin of paedophilia, he shall be punished with death, or such other punishment as a court martial shall think fit to impose, and as the circumstances of the case shall require.

30. All robbery committed by any person in the fleet, shall be punished as a court martial, upon consideration of the circumstances, shall find meet, up to and including a sentence of death.

31. All creation, alchemical transformation, refinement, possession, trade, or consumption of substances proscribed by the laws of the Dominion, whether eaten, drunk, inhaled, smoked, applied, or otherwise administered, by any person in the fleet shall be punished as a court martial, upon consideration of the circumstances, shall find meet, up to and including a sentence of death.

32. Every officer or other person in the fleet, who shall knowingly make or sign a false muster or muster book, or who shall command, counsel, or procure the making or signing thereof, or who shall aid or abet any other person in the making or signing thereof, shall, upon proof of any such offence being made before a court martial, be cashiered, and rendered incapable of further employment in the Constitutional Dominion Navy or any other chartered Dominion agency.

33. No provost martial belonging to the fleet shall refuse to apprehend any criminal, whom he shall be authorized by legal warrant to apprehend, or to receive or keep any prisoner committed to his charge, or wilfully suffer him to escape, being once in his custody, or dismiss him without lawful order, upon pain of such punishment as a court martial shall deem him fit to deserve; and all captains, officers, and others in the fleet, shall render their utmost endeavour to detect, apprehend, and bring to punishment all offenders, and shall assist the officers appointed for that purpose therein, upon pain of being proceeded against, and punished by a court martial, according to the nature and degree of the offence.

34. If any flag officer, captain, or commander, or lieutenant belonging to the fleet, shall be convicted before a court martial of behaving in a scandalous, infamous, cruel, oppressive, or fraudulent manner, unbecoming the character of an officer, he shall be cashiered, and rendered incapable of further employment in the Constitutional Dominion Navy or any other chartered Dominion agency.

35. Every person being in actual service and in receipt of full pay, and part of the crew in or belonging to any Constitutional Dominion Navy ship or vessel of war who shall be guilty of mutiny, desertion, or disobedience to any lawful command, on any world that holds membership of any class within the Constitutional Dominion of Illuminated Spheres, or on those worlds that are monitored by the Constitutional Dominion Navy, or on those outposts between Spheres where the Constitutional Dominion of Illuminated Spheres maintains a compelling interest, shall be liable to be tried by a court martial, and suffer the like punishment for every such offence, as if the same had been committed in space on board any Constitutional Dominion Navy ship or vessel of war.

36. If any person being in actual service and in receipt of full pay, and part of the crew in or belonging to any Constitutional Dominion Navy ship or vessel of war, shall commit upon any planetary body, whether within or outside of the purview of the Constitutional Dominion of Illuminated Spheres, any of the crimes punishable by these articles and orders, the person so offending shall be liable to be tried and punished for the same, in like manner, to all intents and purposes, as if the same crimes had been committed in space on board any Constitutional Dominion Navy ship or vessel of war.

37. All other crimes not heretofore entailed in the above Articles, committed by any person or persons in the fleet, shall be punished by the laws and customs of the Dominion at the authority and discretion of the senior officer present.

No commander or other officer in or belonging to any Constitutional Dominion Navy ship or vessel of war shall be cashiered, demoted, flogged, or otherwise suffer from the infliction of meted corporal punishment, or any loss of liberty freedoms or the rights to franchise at the hand of another officer or person of the Constitutional Dominion Navy as the result or outcome of administrative discipline. Penalties appropriate for administrative discipline include extra duty, confinement to quarters or shipboard, confiscation of contraband, exclusion from shore leave, reduction in non-essential rations, and temporary reduction in pay.

Courts-martial are intended for addressing the most serious of offences committed by an officer or other person in the Constitutional Dominion Navy. A court-martial may be convened to address the offence or offences of a person of any rank, whether officer or other. Without the convention of a court-martial, any discipline administered by a commander or other designated officers must be limited in scope and magnitude to administrative discipline.

The commander or acting commander of any vessel in or belonging to the Constitutional Dominion Navy has the authority to convene a court-martial for the purpose of trying an officer or other person serving in the Constitutional Dominion Navy. Other designated officers of high ranking in service to the Constitutional Dominion Navy have the authority to convene a court-martial for the purpose of trying an officer or other person serving in the Constitutional Dominion Navy.

A duly convened court-martial of the Constitutional Dominion Navy shall comprise five to 13 officers on active service, in good standing, and of adequate health to participate [see appendix for exact officer requirements for court-martial composition]. The commander or officer who has convened the court-martial may either serve on the court-martial, or may serve as the prosecuting authority, at personal preference. If the number of officers of appropriate rank present is insufficient to convene a court-martial, the court-martial is considered to be in abeyance until there are sufficient officers available for convention. If, during the court-martial, the number of officers available to participate falls below the required number, the court-martial is also considered to be in abeyance. A commander or other high-ranking officer shall not tender temporary promotions to officers or other persons for the purpose of creating the necessary number of officers for the convention of a court-martial.

No commander, other officer, or person belonging to any Constitutional Dominion Navy ship or vessel of war shall suffer the loss of liberty freedoms or the rights of franchise while under incarceration pending the convention of a court-martial for offences, during the duration of the court-martial, or while a court-martial is in abeyance.

A finding of conviction from a Constitutional Dominion Navy court-martial, duly convened, performed, and concluded, may result in the flogging, demotion, cashiering, or execution of an officer or other person in service to the Constitutional Dominion Navy, based on the severity of the offence and aggravating or mitigating circumstances surrounding the offence or offences committed. The appeal process of a finding of conviction varies based on the rank of the guilty and nature of offence or offences committed [see appendix].

A Mast is an administrative (non-judicial) procedure in which a commanding officer studies and disposes of cases and incidents involving those under his or her command. On the Imirie, it is referred to as a Kano's Mast. If a Nuharnagil or above is overseeing the Mast, it is then referred to as a Harnagilrim Mast or Flag Mast.

The commanding officer stands at the main mast and addresses the entire ship's company. The crew, who customarily are not permitted to initiate conversation with the commander, are allowed to speak to him directly at these times. In addition to listening to the concerns of the crew, during a Mast the commanding officer might single out a member of the crew for praise, reward, or commendation.

However, a Mast is an administrative (non-judicial) disciplinary hearing--to differentiate from a court-martial. It gives the commanding officer the opportunity to:

• make inquiry into the facts surrounding minor offenses allegedly committed by a member of his command,
• afford the accused a hearing as to such offenses, and
• dispose of such charges by dismissing the charges, imposing punishment under the provisions of military law or referring the case to a court martial.

On the Imirie, following the Mast, any punishment imposed is immediately carried out and witnessed by the full ship's company. Punishment might range from:

• public admonition or reprimand,
• extra duty of not more than 60 days,
• loss of privileges (to include any of: extra or luxury rations, grog allowance, liberty, Sabbath recreation, hot water, etc.)
• confinement on diminished rations (primarily bread and water with Chirurgeon supervision) of not more than 60 days,
• forfeiture or reduction of pay for not more than 120 days,
• flogging of not more than 20 lashes per offence (for non-officers only),
• rank reduction (for non-officers only), or
• several or all of the aforementioned penalties.

[Note: several punishments permitted by the Commander's Mast for non-officers may only be imposed by rendering a guilty verdict through a court-martial where officers are involved.]

1. An officer may not resign a commission while in the face of battle or engaged with a known enemy.
2. An officer may not resign a commission while serving under any duly-sworn contract stipulating a specific duration of military service, until such time as that service has been rendered in full.
3. An officer may not resign while travelling between Spheres, or while more than nine days' travel from a Dominion member world.
4. An officer may not resign a commission where no other officer is present and capable of offering leadership to the subordinates under the resigning officer's command.
5. An officer may not resign while under investigation for any violation of the Articles of War, during a court-martial or the abeyance of a court-martial for such violation, or while pending punishment for a guilty finding of such violation.

If none of these conditions are present, any officer may freely resign their commission by providing notice to a superior officer or peer, with any degree of advance notification desired or practicable by the resigning officer.