Body Theft Act 8615

An act signed by the various nations of the HF shortly after the HF - Phelke First Contact in 8604 which makes it illegal for Phelkes to steal other's bodies.

Body theft is now a crime which can be performed through the STP - swapping bodies with another sentient being. Though this is normally not illegal inside the Phelke Commonwealth specifically, body theft is defined as swapping with another person and then refusing to swap back. Most other star nations ban the STP without explicit permission as well.

The punishment for breaking this law is usually severe. It can cause months or years in jail depending on how long one's body remained stolen from. To assist police with finding violations of this law, almost all people of the HF are enhanced with cybernetic implants that can detect when an STP happens and automatically log any time and location where an STP is performed, as well as the individuals involved.

The body theft act also bans controlling others bodies telepathically, such as through sentient robot hacking or any biological mind control. The HF has yet to come across a significant amount of the latter but the law was put in place anyway to save effort in the future (Sentient Robots and some Rih'kiels have that foresight).

It is available for anyone to view for free on most computers and data centers of the Archive.