Scientology ethics and justice

Scientology ethics and justice refer to a system of policies, procedures, and disciplinary mechanisms created by L. Ron Hubbard and used by the Church of Scientology to monitor and regulate the behavior of its members and staff. Scientology defines ethics as the actions an individual takes to regulate their own conduct, and justice as the corrective actions imposed by the group when a person fails to do so. The system includes a wide range of justice actions intended to correct deviations, including reports, files, interviews, hearings, courts, committees of evidence, orders, confessions, and security checks. The most severe action is declaring someone a suppressive person and expelling them from the Church, followed by the controversial practices of disconnection and fair game. Within the Sea Org, Scientology's elite management staff, additional punitive programs exist such as throwing people overboard, forced running, and heavy manual labor under confinement on the Rehabilitation Project Force. Scientology also uses a production-based model in which staff are evaluated on their weekly production (statistics). Scholars and critics have described the ethics and justice system as a mechanism of social control, noting its potential for coercion, arbitrary punishment, and human rights abuses.