"Legal status of the SCP Foundation" redirects here. This article is about the SCP Foundation as a sovereign entity. For the SCP Foundation specifically as an organization, see SCP Foundation. For other instances of Corpus separatum throughout history, see Corpus separatum (disambiguation).
SCP Foundation
Motto: "Secure, Contain, Protect"
Location of SCP Foundation Central Command
| Capital and largest city |
East Berlin (city-state) |
| Official languages | German English (de facto) |
| Religion | 64.1% Protestant (Lutheran, Reformed, United) 32.4% Roman Catholic 0.9% Jewish 2.6% Other |
| Demonym | German |
| Government | Federal semi-presidential republic (1918—1933) SCP Foundation rule (De facto) (1933—1990) |
| Legislature | Bicameral |
| • Upper House | Reichsrat (de facto) |
| • Lower House | Reichstag |
| Population | 96,142,000 (1990) |
| Currency | 1919–23 "Papiermark" (ℳ) 1923–24 Rentenmark (RM) 1924–90 Reichsmark (ℛℳ) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Calling code | +49 |
| Internet TLD | .scp |
Corpus separatum (or “separated body” in Latin) refers to the unique status of the SCP Foundation in international law, serving as the basis for its possession of legal personality which would eventually justify its definition as a sovereign entity. Specifically, the Foundation is considered a sui generis force separate from being considered either distinctly a conventional political power, such as a country, or an anomalous power, such as a national paranatural enforcement organization. Since the establishment of the corpus separatum within the 1875 Treaty of Weimar, the Foundation has been able to act in international affairs in a manner dissimilar to conventional powers, yet also utilize anomalous assets as a distinctly paranormal organization would, a status previously unafforded to any other politcal entity.
Within Europe, the separation between conventional and anomalous political entities was, for much of history, a traditional and decentralized practice independently performed by many countries. However, upon the Peace of Westphalia, the separation was fully codified as an inherent aspect of the European balance of power, as was the Veil Protocol. It was in this environment that the SCP Foundation was first founded as the Red Contingency in Switzerland, its neutrality allowing it to become the first widely-recognized paranatural force. After the organization began to involve itself in the European colonization of China due to the Qing Anomalous Crisis, many began to see it less as a distinctly anomalous power and more as a unique entity acting as a bridge between the mundane and anomalous worlds. Through a variety of front organizations, the Foundation soon began to involve itself in more affairs.
Through its corpus separatum, the Foundation was able to maintain sovereign territory, and so began to involve itself in colonization. Its first possessions were a concession in the city of Tianjin and the former British colony of Hong Kong. In 1918, sensing Germany’s approaching loss in World War I, Emperor Wilhelm II authorized several unprecedented actions: the severing of ties with all foreign and international paranatural enforcement organizations, the theft of any of their anomalies in their territory, and the subsequent extensive use of paranormal weaponry on the field in conventional warfare. These actions nearly shattered the Veil Protocol and reinvigorated the war, leading the formerly-neutral Foundation aligning itself with the Entente. After the defeat of the Central Powers, the Foundation seized power in the Weimar Republic, effectively maintaining Germany as a colonial possession. This was an extensive economic boon for the Foundation, though maintaining power in the state took a considerable portion of its resources, meaning it was unable to counter the rising prevalence of Mekhanite extremism in Greece, nor the power grab of longstanding paranormal institutions in France.
The two newly-totalitarian European nations joined with the Empire of Japan, East Asia’s dominant power in both mundane and anomalous affairs, to create what would later become the Axis Powers. France began using more than its explicitly allotted authority in the Weimar Republic, eventually invading it in 1939 and triggering World War II. Seeing this as a direct challenge to its sovereignty, the Foundation joined the Allied Powers, which would be victorious in 1945. The dissolution of the Veil Protocol due to the 001-Apotheosis Event in Korea meant the Foundation needed to focus on operating in the newly-public anomalous world, requiring it grant Germany its independence in 1947. Investing more in its other possessions, Hong Kong soon emerged as the undisputed capital of the anomalous world. The Foundation was nominally neutral in the Cold War, though was far more aligned with the Western world. The Cold War era saw the rapid decentralization of the anomalous world, though the organization still continued to remain the most domineering paranatural power. The United Nations' policies towards decolonization led to the complete loss of the Foundation's sovereign territories, ending with the handover of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China in 1997.
In international law, the term corpus separatum is, while varied, typically understood to refer to a polity whose status is considered to be not quite a sovereign entity, and was originally intended to function similarly for the Foundation. However, the unique status it provided for the Foundation essentially allowed it to act sovereign without it being explicitly defined as such initially, later growing in importance to become defining proof that the Foundation was in possession of international personality which would justify inherent sovereignty. Distinction is sometimes made between the SCP Foundation as an organization and the corpus separatum (in this context defined as the Foundation as a sovereign entity) with some legal scholars going as far to define them as two separate forces which overlap and complement each other. Regardless of the true defintion, the Foundation's corpus separatum grants it many amenities, such as the fact its various containment and administrative facilities throughout the world possess extraterritorality. The Foundation is a full member of both the United Nations and Non-Aligned Movement, while also being considered a hypothetical candidate to join the European Union.
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Table of Contents
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Name
History
Historical Precursors
Erikeshan Era
Daevite Era
Mekhanite-Adytite Era
Later Developments
Establishment and Early Years
European Balance of Power
The modern European anomalous world and the existence of the Veil is thought to have been first formally attested to in the Treaty of Bavaria, the anomalous component of the Peace of Westphalia. The treaty established the idea that European nations had sovereignty over anomalies within their territory, but they should be hidden from the public and not be used for warfare. While there was no formal unifying authority over the anomalous at this point, the Papacy decreed that the people of Europe were not ready to accept the paranormal and would be quick to use it to engage in idolatry, with multiple Popes authoring papal bulls which formulated how the Roman Catholic Church felt the anomalous should be treated. Generally, the papacy felt that the anomalous should be hidden from the average civilian, but not destroyed, as, despite everything, they were still God’s creations. Every Catholic nation in Europe considered the word of the Pope to be their *de facto* position on the anomalous. This position was not one strictly limited to Catholicism, or even Christianity, with similar reasons being cited in several Islamic states to also restrict the anomalous, such as within the Ottoman Empire. Overall, regardless of creed or allegiance, nearly every European nation had some reason they did not want anomalies known publicly to their people, and it was in that shared interest some found opportunity.
After the Congress of Vienna defined Switzerland’s neutrality in 1815, some countries began to feel like the confederation was the only place where their anomalies could be adequately protected both physically and politically. While nearly every state had its own dedicated paranormal organization in line with their beliefs regarding the anomalous, the movements for balance between the European powers meant that many in various governments began calling for removal of anomalies from government possession altogether in order to prevent any foul play. To this end, the Red Contingency was founded by Swiss nobleman Fritz W. Castella de Berlens, commonly known as Fritz Williams, who made a name for himself fighting anomalous entities. The Contingency was the earliest incarnation of what would become the SCP Foundation, being the first modern officially-recognized international organization dedicated to preservation of the Veil alongside the containment and study of anomalies. The Contingency was relatively disconnected from Switzerland itself, operating wholly separately from its government. During the American Revolutionary War, Williams controversially supported the American Secure Containment Initiative, a breakaway organization from Her Majesty’s Foundation for the Secure Containment of the Paranormal (HMFSCP), and invited the relatively disorganized organization a chance to join the Contingency, which it gracefully accepted. However, as the organization was small and in its infancy, it was now almost completely dominated by the Americans.
Though still nominally one organization, this led to informal American and European sides of the Contingency to form, with the divide between them rapidly becoming clear. The European side of the Contingency did what the organization was arguably designed for initially: regulating and containing anomalies from European powers while preventing their use in warfare. However, the American side became more focused on the actual studies of the anomalous. This greatly interested Fritz Williams, who moved to America to oversee the American side of the organization, leaving British paraphysicist Aaron Siegel behind to lead the European side in his stead. Siegel had increasingly professed a desire to become part of the American division’s leadership, since, while he did have a considerable amount of ideological support for maintaining the stability of the European powers, his interest in the anomalous had always been more about the science, though Williams refused, believing he was better suited to the European division, believing that a British man trying to lead the group of Americans would only lead to resentment, especially so soon after the War of 1812. Siegel was enraged at the development of Williams leaving him behind, though initially remained optimistic that he could try to steer the European side of the Contingency closer to his vision. This gradually fell apart, however, as more and more resources began to be siphoned by the American side of the organization under Williams’ order, leaving little behind for Siegel to engage in anything beyond the organization’s political and containment aspects. At some point during this period, both Williams and Siegel drank from SCP-006, making them biologically immortal, though when exactly remains unclear.
In 1856, Siegel had had enough of perceived slights from Williams and defected from the organization with a small group of loyalists, who still operated under the name “Red Contingency”, believing it was their right to use it. Williams, having been far more engrossed in the science rather than political side of things for decades now, cared little about the name, changing the name of his organization to the SCP Foundation, marking what most consider to be the founding of the modern organization. Siegel’s Red Contingency began to engage in various proxy wars with the Foundation, though were outmatched in resources and personnel. However, in Williams’ rapid obsession with the anomalous sciences and his redevelopment of the American side of the former Contingency for doing so, he had unknowingly become wholly dependent on Siegel’s leadership of the European division for the organization’s political infrastructure, crippling its support in Europe and eventually voiding several treaties arguably fundamental to its current operations. As such, Siegel’s Red Contingency began to see some limited support from European powers in the face of its overwhelming inadequacy against the SCP Foundation, granting it resources and shelter while the Foundation did its best to pick up the shattered pieces of its once-integral place in international law.
Qing Anomalous Crisis
Later Colonial Pursuits
World War I
Tear in the Veil
Interwar Era
Subjugation of Germany
Rising Nations
World War II
001-Apotheosis Event
Post-Veil
Cold War
Modern Activities
International Relations
Sovereign States
United States of America
People's Republic of China
Hong Kong
Macau
Germany
Groups of Interest
Other