Imagine this scenario. You have one human and one alien on Planet Earth, if a human commits a crime and breaks a law then that person may be sent to jail or fined. If an alien however, commits a crime and breaks a law, could the same thing happen to that alien? Moreover, if you shot an alien then would it still be classed as murder?

Well.. it depends on the alien i guess. if it classed as a human.. or an animal. so.

Classed as human: human shoots alien - alien dies - human gets charged with murder.

Classed as animal: human shoots alien - alien dies - human gets charged (or fined) for animal cruelty. 

There is really no way to answer that question because the law wasn't made with aliens in mind.. that being said, i doubt we'll ever walk among aliens anyway.. Why? because the US government will just keep them locked up in Area 51 

If it were an "alien" as in an illegal immigrant they are governed under whatever law of the country they enter. While an extraterrestrial wouldn't technically be human, I'd imagine it would depend on the level of their intelligence. If it were of human or higher intelligence it would probably be governed by our law since it would have the ability to comprehend our customs, if it were of low intelligence it'd probably be treated just as an animal of scientific value.

Edited August 6, 201510 yr by Regn752

Imagine this scenario. You have one human and one alien on Planet Earth, if a human commits a crime and breaks a law then that person may be sent to jail or fined. If an alien however, commits a crime and breaks a law, could the same thing happen to that alien? Moreover, if you shot an alien then would it still be classed as murder?

Have to agree with Regn752 it really depends on the "Alien's" capability in understanding that it has done wrong. Can't really hold something accountable if it doesn't know that it has done wrong.

This would all actually depend on the wording of the law in question.  For example, if murder is defined by law as the premeditated taking of another humans life, then killing an extraterrestrial would not be illegal.  Words like person, life, and individual make laws vague when applied to extraterrestrials.  We would have to decide if an intelligent alien lifeform could be considered a "person" before applying certain laws.  If aliens showed up, and wanted to live here, alot of laws would have to be revised to include language protecting them.  For example, if an alien species has no genders then a large amount of rape laws wouldn't apply.  South Carolina,  where I live, defines it partly as karnal knowledge of a female.  In fact, in my state, men can not be legally raped.  Other laws apply to male sexual assault though.  It's all about the wording of the law in question.  

Edited August 13, 201510 yr by LordGunter

Under Russian criminal law, for example, every person who committed a crime is criminally liable despite gender, race, nationality, and other differences. With the law being worded like this, it's actually possible to try an alien. For the said alien to be held not accountable for its actions under the same law it has to fail to understand the nature of his actions (which is possible for an extraterrestrial life form), and to be mentally ill at the same time. So if a Facehugger implants an Alien embryo into a person and this person dies the Facehugger will be detained and charged (and severely beaten by our police in the process) even though he might not even understand the nature of his actions. 

Under Russian criminal law, for example, every person who committed a crime is criminally liable despite gender, race, nationality, and other differences. With the law being worded like this, it's actually possible to try an alien. For the said alien to be held not accountable for its actions under the same law it has to fail to understand the nature of his actions (which is possible for an extraterrestrial life form), and to be mentally ill at the same time. So if a Facehugger implants an Alien embryo into a person and this person dies the Facehugger will be detained and charged (and severely beaten by our police in the process) even though he might not even understand the nature of his actions. 

But what if a bear kills someone? Would the bear be arrested and charged? In the US, things that aren't human aren't charged with crimes, but that's because they aren't entitled to legal process (a bear which kills someone isn't detained and put on trial, it's just killed).

But what if a bear kills someone? Would the bear be arrested and charged? In the US, things that aren't human aren't charged with crimes, but that's because they aren't entitled to legal process (a bear which kills someone isn't detained and put on trial, it's just killed).

Here there's no legal definition of an animal, only several state laws mention that domestic animals are cats and dogs only. So my guess is that it's up to a judicial expert to define whether this alien is animal or not. If we ever meet an extraterrestrial being here, we probably would act with caution, and treat an alien like a human to avoid any diplomatic conflicts with them in future.