Prime Directive The Prime Directive , also known as Starfleet General Order 1 or the Non - Interference Directive , was the embodiment of one of Starfleet ' s most important ethical principles : noninterference with other cultures and civilizations . At its core was the philosophical concept that covered personnel should refrain from interfering in the natural , unassisted , development of societies , even if such interference was well - intentioned . The Prime Directive was viewed as so fundamental to Starfleet that officers swore to uphold the Prime Directive , even at the cost of their own life or the lives of their crew . ( ; ; ; ; ) The " precursor " to the Prime Directive , though somewhat undefined , could be traced back to Captain Jonathan Archer ' s and Phlox ' s ethical dilemma faced when encountering two species , one with a terminal genetic illness and the other without . Archer commented that eventually , Starfleet would have to " come up with some sort of a doctrine " establishing what Humans should and should not do while exploring space and interacting with other lifeforms . They decided that interfering with the natural evolutionary course of these two species would go against the " directive " upon which they based their entire mission : to meet new species and attempt peaceful communications , not to " play God " . ( ) The fundamental principles were an important part of Earth Starfleet procedures as early as 2152 , but it did not go into effect as a General Order until sometime after 2168 . ( ; ) The directive remained in effect well into the 24th century and applied to at least Starfleet and Merchant Marine personnel , but specifically did not apply to ordinary Federation citizens . ( ; ) Despite this , it was occasionally described as a principle of the Federation or its people . ( ; ; ) Prohibitions . A complicated order , the Prime Directive had 47 sub - orders by the latter part of the 24th century . ( ) However , a high - level summary was " no identification of self or mission ; no interference with the social development of said planet ; no references to space , other worlds , or advanced civilizations . " ( ) The directive provided guidance on what constituted prohibited " interference " with a society , covering such matters as : Scope and interpretation . The Prime Directive did not apply equally to all societies on all planets at all times . Although a cornerstone of Federation philosophy , the scope of the Prime Directive varied depending on many factors . For example , the Prime Directive primarily applied to societies that had little to no actual knowledge of other worlds and space - faring civilizations ( as with certain pre - warp civilization s ) . ( ; ) But it also applied to the internal affairs of societies which knew extensively of other worlds ( for example , interference in purely internal affairs by Starfleet was not permitted in the Klingon Civil War ) . Human colonies were excluded from its coverage all together , and by virtue of joining the United Federation of Planets member planets were subject to its laws , regulations , and authority . ( ; ) The result was a spectrum of application : the more closely a civilization was tied to the Federation or Earth the greater the amount of interference in that civilization that was tolerated within the Prime Directive . Some actions were clearly forbidden by the Prime Directive when it did apply to a society . Others were subject to interpretation , with commanding officers in Starfleet being given great discretionary powers regarding how and whether the Prime Directive would apply to specific situations . This promoted debate among command crews about whether the Prime Directive would ( or should ) apply , and how best to balance competing ethical priorities . ( ; ; ; ) If a decision was made by the commanding officer that could potentially be a violation of the Prime Directive , the conclusions and rationale would need to be recorded and justified to Starfleet through the ship ' s or station ' s logs . ( ) On very rare occasions , captains could declare that the Prime Directive could be temporarily suspended for a period of time . An example of this is " The Omega Directive " . ( VOY : The Omega Directive ) Anyone found to have violated the Prime Directive ( including through claiming an unjustified exception or having a weak rationale regarding actions otherwise constituting a violation ) could result in punishment ranging from a formal reprimand all the way to arrest and court martial . ( ; ) Inconsistencies and Exceptions . The Prime Directive had exceptions and allowed for violations if satisfactory reasons were given . ( ) There were , however , two circumstances where the Prime Directive was suspended in its entirety . The first was when the Omega Directive applied . Due to issues of security only Starfleet officers ranked captain and above were privy to knowledge of this directive . The existential threat to interstellar society of the dangerous Omega molecule , which destroyed subspace and rendered warp travel impossible if destabilized , outweighed the philosophical aspirations of the Prime Directive . As a result , during periods when the Omega Directive was operative the Prime Directive was fully suspended for the purpose of rendering harmless any Omega molecules and the ability to create them . ( ) The second circumstance was General Order 24 . That order permitted a starship captain , in certain circumstances , to destroy the entire surface of an inhabited planet and thereby eradicate any societies living there . ( ) Federation citizens did not need an exception as the Prime Directive did not apply to them . In fact , under the rules as defined in the Directive in the 24th century , a Starfleet crew was forbidden from forcibly removing Federation citizens from a world , even if they had intentionally and materially interfered with the culture of a world in a way that would otherwise have been prohibited by the Prime Directive . ( ) Attitudes toward the Prime Directive . Starfleet as an organization had the greatest respect for and required compliance with the Prime Directive . ( ) But not all Federation citizens , or even all Starfleet personnel , believed that strict adherence to the Prime Directive under every circumstance was in the best interests of the civilizations it was designed to protect . Starfleet captains themselves had very different personal tolerances for the degree of flexibility to be applied to the Prime Directive . Captain James T . Kirk , noted that the Prime Directive was intended to apply only to living , growing civilizations and felt it was appropriate to interfere where societies had been enslaved , were in a state of total stagnation ( also known as an arrested culture ) , or even in mortal danger . ( ; ) Captain Kirk also at least twice attempted to interfere in the internal affairs of a civilization when he believed that higher ethics compelled or justified such actions . ( ) On the other hand , both Captains Picard and Janeway were prepared to watch whole societies perish from natural causes rather than interfere – even when others were seeking to prevail upon them that Starfleet ' s role should permit actively saving societies rather than passively watching them die . ( ; ) This range of conduct could even be found within a single individual : Captain Janeway once noted that 23rd century Starfleet officers such as Kirk were " a little too slow to invoke the Prime Directive , " but she herself admitted to having " bent it on occasion " during her travels in the Delta Quadrant . ( ) The Prime Directive as a general prohibition against interference was unique to the United Federation of Planets . Other organizations and cultures outside of Federation had different approaches to matters regarding interference with societies . These ranged from total annihilation of civilizations through assimilation ( for example , the Borg ) , to planetary relocation when the society was endangered on its homeworld ( for example , the Preservers ) , to providing advanced knowledge on an " ad hoc " basis when the society was deemed ready ( for example , the Vulcan s ) , to interfering whenever doing so was seen as vaguely amusing ( for example , the Q ) . Examples . There are many examples of actions during the 23rd and 24th centuries that were either identified at the time as violations of , or could appear to have potentially been violations of , the Prime Directive . Appendices . Background information . The has a picture of a prop made for Admiral Christopher Pike ' s office in . This prop has text for the first three Starfleet General Orders . General Order # 1 ' s text is as follows : This phrasing of General Order One has its origins in the ( " The Federation " sourcebook , p . 5 ) . The text was slightly edited by the individual who made the prop for the film .