Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Section 31

10. Their Name Came From A Section Of The Starfleet Charter

As revealed in Star Trek: Enterprise, Section 31 began in the 22nd century. It took its name from Article 14, Section 31 of the Starfleet Charter which authorized extreme measures during periods of extraordinary threat.

The terms "extreme measures" and "extraordinary threat" seemingly meant whatever Section 31 needed them to mean to justify their operations.

For example, in 2154, Section 31 let Klingon operatives kidnap a Starfleet doctor to work on a cure for the Klingon Augment virus in exchange for a mutually advantageous alliance with the Klingons.

In the 23rd century, Section 31 used the perceived threat of a temporal arms race to justify stealing a time crystal from the Klingons and deceiving the Vulcans about the time travel research undertaken by Federation scientists at a joint human-Vulcan research facility on the Vulcan colony Doctari Alpha.

In the 24th century, Section 31 used the Dominion War to justify ruining a Romulan ally's career, experimenting on Changeling POWs, creating a biological weapon, planning a genocide, and using Odo as a carrier for a disease.

In the Kelvin timeline, Admiral Marcus used the threat of a Klingon war to justify using Khan Noonien Singh to build weapons.