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Can a planet refuse to allow entry to imperial citizens?

Can an individual member world deny entry to an Imperial citizen, barring any kind of criminal conduct?

I would say that it will depend on the membership treaty.

As for how rare it would be for the Imperium to allow a member world such a power, I'm not sure. It seems like something that would be frowned upon as displaying a deplorably unfriendly attitude to the Imperium. I think the Imperium would need good cause to allow it.


Hans
 
I can see how an Imperial citizen could enter the downport, with it's Imperial extraterritoriality, and yet be prohibited by the local government from entering the world itself.
 
The Traveller Book (CT 2E, essentially 2.1E)
This is part of the theme of the Exit Visa adventure, in reverse.

Actually, in Exit Visa, the ship is detained by the "Port Warden" on Allel (Regina SS, Spinward Marches) for papers irregularities, so the exit visa is revoked. Note that the PC's have to deal with the local authorities, not Imperial ones... (TTB, starting on page 141.)

Note that this implies no extrality zone on Allel. (Note that only one world in that SS is outside the 3I - Ruie.

"Individual worlds, and even entire systems, are free to govern themselves as they desire, provided that ultimate power is always accorded the Imperium." TTB p.148

While not explicit, allowing and forbidding of access are part of governance in general, so governing one's self means a world should be able to bar all but agents of the Imperium under orders/warrants.

The Traveller Adventure...

P.33 explicitly notes that the starport on Aramis is extraterritorial. (This is apparentlyunlike Allel in Exit Visa.)
Within a couple pages is a note that anyone exiting the starport must pay the air tax or be prosecuted.

p. 51 notes that permits are required to go anywhere on Psaydi. Cr10 per person, no vehicle permits will be issued. The implications are that they would be required to exit the starport extrality, but that's not explicitly stated, tho it's explicit that anywhere other than Sadi requires a permit from the Salvors in Sadi to go, and another from the salvors at the far end to return to Sadi.

p. 56: "The party will be escorted, first to a salvor office for confirmation of travel passes, and then to the starport, once the train arrives in Sadi. Before they cross the extrality line, they are informed that they are no longer welcome on Pysadian soil, and will be denied permits or papers should they visit again. Having denied the benefits offered by Mother Pysadi, they have forfeited their right to remain on her surface.

p. 69: notes that Vilante doesn't allow landing outside the starport, except with a permit, and that "transportation from the port to any of the secluded estates is hard to come by, at best"

p. 85: "Since that time, the Payans have continued their eccentric but determined progress toward their ideal of society. Using advanced robotic systems, the Payans have concerned themselves with extensive engineering and building projects designed to provide an ideal base for the future population of the planet. Since they intend to repopulate the world themselves, offworld immigration is not permitted."

p. 92: "Form 1 1/2, Application for Visa: This form is required for Zilan natives to leave Zila and return. Two are needed: one for Lisa and one for Boris Dree, her employee. Each visa requires two signatures."

Note that a native leaving without one, by implication, may not return.

There is plenty of evidence in TTA that worlds can restrict entry and exit.
 
I definitely need to figure out where my copy of the Traveller Adventure went.

@ Aramis

Would it be safe to say then, that many, but not all, starports, have extraterritorial rights? I am thinking off Class A, B. C, and possibly a small number of D Class starports. I do not think that would apply to Class E starports, which basically are open areas with a landing beacon.
 
I definitely need to figure out where my copy of the Traveller Adventure went.

@ Aramis

Would it be safe to say then, that many, but not all, starports, have extraterritorial rights? I am thinking off Class A, B. C, and possibly a small number of D Class starports. I do not think that would apply to Class E starports, which basically are open areas with a landing beacon.

At least one Type E is extraterritorial. But, yes, I'd agree most are extraterritorial. Allel is a type B, and apparently (but not explicitly) isn't.
 
According to MgT, it's apparently not only possible, but common. The MgT Law Level chart (p.176) seems to interpret "law" as a synonym for "xenophobia", giving the following restrictions:

LL 7: Citizens may not leave planet; visitors may not leave starport

LL 8: Landing permitted only to imperial agents

LL 9: No offworlders permitted

Presumably, under this interpretation, all LL 8+ worlds must have highports, even if the starport is only class E...
 
According to MgT, it's apparently not only possible, but common. The MgT Law Level chart (p.176) seems to interpret "law" as a synonym for "xenophobia", giving the following restrictions:

LL 7: Citizens may not leave planet; visitors may not leave starport

LL 8: Landing permitted only to imperial agents

LL 9: No offworlders permitted

Presumably, under this interpretation, all LL 8+ worlds must have highports, even if the starport is only class E...

I would view offworlder bans are more a consequence of government type, rather than law level. Law level should reflect the possibility of encountering problems with the local authorities and the degree of access to weapons by the populace. Bans on travel or visitors would be reflective of government policies, not law level. Examples would be the former USSR, which had a very high law level, but allowed Western visitors, or Saudi Arabia, which also has a very high law level, especially for women, but allows visitors. Japan, under the Shogunate had a very difficult law level to quantify, but barred visitors upon pain of death. Imperial China was similar to Japan on the internal law level, and while not killing outsiders, resisted them entering very strongly, with some limited exceptions.
 
I would view offworlder bans are more a consequence of government type, rather than law level. Law level should reflect the possibility of encountering problems with the local authorities and the degree of access to weapons by the populace. Bans on travel or visitors would be reflective of government policies, not law level.

Agreed. Mongoose, for some reason, chose to interpret Law Level as measuring repressive and totalitarian tendencies in a very broad sense. According to the MgT Law Level chart, at LL7, not only are offworlders prohibited from leaving the starport, but all TL7 or higher items are prohibited/regulated, all information from offworld is censored, Library programs are banned, and "free speech [is] curtailed". LL9 eliminates the free press and completely bans all offworld information (which, I guess, explains the total ban on offworlders), but that seems a little excessive given that it also bans TL3 technology, so how would people receive information from offworld anyhow?
 
Agreed. Mongoose, for some reason, chose to interpret Law Level as measuring repressive and totalitarian tendencies in a very broad sense. According to the MgT Law Level chart, at LL7, not only are offworlders prohibited from leaving the starport, but all TL7 or higher items are prohibited/regulated, all information from offworld is censored, Library programs are banned, and "free speech [is] curtailed". LL9 eliminates the free press and completely bans all offworld information (which, I guess, explains the total ban on offworlders), but that seems a little excessive given that it also bans TL3 technology, so how would people receive information from offworld anyhow?

Well, while there are some problems with how MgT has decided to handle the issue, it does at least provide for restrictive democracies, which is a situation you wouldn't have if repression and government code were correlated.
 
A planet's society may have all sorts of reasons for not letting people on: They may have prohibitions against a sub-race of humaniti, for instance, or vargr. They may only allow men over 18 if they have a beard. They may have a strict dress code or prohibit tattoos.

Having an orbital station for the heathens to do business in does wonders for keeping the homeland pure.
 
Having an orbital station for the heathens to do business in does wonders for keeping the homeland pure.

But it's also expensive.

Have some worthless island in the middle of nowhere, bulldoze a landing area and slap a 'Class E' label on it.

*The locals can't get to it easily - (if they even know it exists), and if they do make it they starve to death unless an extremely rare ship arrives and is feeling generous.
*Ship crews can't leave to the mainlands (no transport, no permits, shot down for violating airspace) if they even bother trying to visit.
*The local govt gives the required token appearance of playing nice with the Impies (we built an imperal starport as you asked for, now let us manage our own affairs as you said we could).
 
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