Ethics Committee Handbook

The Ethics Committee is the Foundation's second council. It sits beside the O5 Council, not under it, and answers only to The Administrator (Foundation Charter, Article III). It holds the Foundation's command to the Foundation's own rules on the treatment of personnel, Class-D and Citizens, and can veto what breaks them.

1. Seats and ranks

The council has seven seats, E-1 to E-7, appointed and removed by The Administrator. E-1 is the Chair. The Administrator may appoint a member of the O5 Council as Chair, who then holds both seats; no other member sits on both councils.

Staff hold the Site Clearance of their posting as usual. On a mission they also hold, for its length, the Site Clearance the mission needs at the site they are sent to. The Chair grants it, not the Site Director, and no Site Director may refuse them entry. They are escorted by the site's Security everywhere except where an escort would defeat the observation, as the Chair decides (Charter, Article VI). The Chair may also grant Site-01 clearance to staff up to Level 3.

2. The veto

1. The council may veto any O5 Directive, Site Order, urgent order, Civil Order, test, capture or termination order that breaks the Foundation's own rules on the treatment of personnel, Class-D, Citizens or the Unregistered.
2. A veto is decided by a majority of the members seated, with at least three present. A Chair who also holds an O5 seat does not vote on a veto of an order they issued or voted for.
3. A vetoed instrument or operation has no force while the veto stands. A test or capture under veto stops at once, as safely as containment allows.
4. The Administrator may lift a veto at any time. Once a veto has stood for 14 days, the O5 Council may also lift it by two thirds of the members seated. The council may withdraw its own veto.
5. Every veto is published as a finding in the Archive, at the clearance of the instrument it stops.

3. Site Observers

1. Sent by the council into any of Sites 02 to 09, alone or in pairs, announced or unannounced.
2. Observe how the site is run: its orders, its staffing, its treatment of personnel, Class-D and Citizens, and whether its charter and Site Orders are kept.
3. Report back to the council at the end of each posting, and at once when something cannot wait.
4. Do not give orders at the site. A Site Observer who sees an unsafe or unethical order reports it; only the council can stop it.

4. Foundation Observers

1. Attend every capture and every test the Scientific Department marks as a risk to personnel or Class-D, and any other the council names. Site-06 requires one at every test on site.
2. Record what they see in an observation log filed with the test or capture.
3. Report any unethical act to the council the same day. In an emergency a Foundation Observer may call a hold on a test until a council member answers; the hold lasts no longer than one session.

5. Auditors

1. Every incident report that involves the injury, death or mistreatment of personnel, Class-D, Citizens or the Unregistered comes to the council, which assigns Auditors to it. Any other incident is audited when it is referred to the council.
2. Auditors audit the records, interview those involved and investigate what happened.
3. They report their findings to the Internal Security Department, which acts on them, and file a copy with the council.
4. An Auditor may read any record the incident touches, up to the Auditor's clearance, at any site.

6. Misconduct of council members

1. A member of the Ethics Committee accused of misconduct is judged by the O5 Council, and a member of the O5 Council by the Ethics Committee. Either may appeal to The Administrator.
2. A Chair who also holds an O5 seat is judged by The Administrator.
3. Internal Security investigates as for anyone else and sends its findings to the council that judges.

7. Referrals

1. Any member of personnel or any Citizen may refer a test, order, capture or treatment to the council.
2. Three members hear each referral; the Chair may join.
3. The council publishes a finding on every referral it hears, and decides on a veto where one is asked.
4. The council is consulted before any O5 Directive that limits Citizens' rights.

8. What the council writes

Findings and vetoes (ETH files), observation logs, audit reports (AUD files) and posts. Reviews and approvals follow Foundation Directive 003.

9. Joining

Council seats by appointment of The Administrator. Staff are appointed by the council and hold Level 3 or above.

Revisions