The Circle

Battlestar Galactica 2004 Continuity
Battlestar Galactica 2004, Caprica and Blood & Chrome

The Circle was a Colonial court which sat in the Fleet in the weeks following the Exodus from New Caprica, and was comprised of a quorum of six individuals who had experienced the Cylon occupation there. The Circle was established during the presidency of Tom Zarek as an emergency court with wide-ranging powers to investigate, convict and execute people deemed to have committed acts of treason against the United Colonies of Kobol. This was deemed necessary due to the sheer number of colonists who had gained some manner of employment or inaction towards the Cylon regime, which would have led to years of trials he believed would ultimately lead to vendettas between survivors rather than justice. Immediately following the swearing in of President Laura Roslin, a blanket pardon was given to all survivors who had collaborated in any way with the Cylons. A total of thirteen people were executed by the Council.

Rules

A typical legal document relating to the Circle.

The Council was tied by a number of rules which it was limited by. Council judges did not have to come from a legal background, though were all survivors of the Cylon occupation. Six members sat on the Council at any one time, with the quorum set to six and requiring a unanimous vote to investigate and prosecute suspects. If found to have committed serious crimes, the suspects would then be abducted and taken to an airlock where they would have time to plead their case. If their good deeds were deemed to not make-up for their crimes, they would be deemed irrelevant and be summarily airlocked. In one example, NCP member James Lyman plead he had saved a Council member's wife from a firing squad, which was considered insignificant compared to civilian executions he participated in. Another man, Felix Gaeta, plead that he had sent documents to the resistance, which allowed him to be spared execution.