10 Weirdest Laws In The Star Trek Universe
6. Regulation 3, Paragraph 12
A Starfleet captain, when the ship is facing imminent destruction, is authorized to attempt to preserve the lives of his crew by any justifiable means.
Captain Rudy Ransom attempts to use this regulation to cover himself to Captain Janeway, after she discovers he has been harvesting the bodies of nucleogenic life forms to increase the speed of his vessel. She flatly denies that this regulation covers mass murder yet, when one pauses, what does this cover?
Any justifiable means. How then does Starfleet define what is or isn't justifiable? While yes, it would seem obvious that mass murder is off the cards, what Starfleet captain wouldn't go to extremes to protect their crew? Janeway herself enacted this law with the execution of Tuvix, to allow Tuvok and Neelix to return to life again.
In this case, it seems to be a numbers game. Taking the lives that they did, the crew of the Equinox may well seem like monsters. Yet, Janeway took one life and is then exonerated. As written, this regulation is open to interpretation.
Arguably, while morally Ransom and his crew were reprehensible, they didn't break Starfleet law.