A Class One Offense, also known as a Class One infraction, was a category of crime outlined in the Imperial Legal Code during the Imperial Era. Following the implementation of the Public Order Resentencing Directive in 5 BBY, all crimes with even indirect effect to the Galactic Empire's functions were reclassified as Class One offenses, carrying longer and more severe sentences. When Cassian Andor was arrested on Niamos shortly after the PORD came into effect, the crimes he was accused of—among others, fleeing the scene of anti-Imperial activity and anti-Imperial speech—resulted in a prison sentence of six years. Years later, when Jyn Erso was arrested by Imperial forces on Corulag, she was similarly charged with two Class One offenses and sentenced to more than five years of prison time.
Under the Imperial justice system as it was codified in the Imperial Legal Code, crimes were grouped into five different classes including Class One and Class Two, with Class One offenses being the most severe. Most Class One offenses carried a prison sentence often served in supermax security facilities, but the Imperial response could also escalate to the direct involvement of Imperial Security services or the military. Crimes classified as Class One included:
- Damaging Imperial property
- Disruption
- Fleeing the scene of anti-Imperial activity
- Anti-Imperial speech
- Aggravated assault against Imperial military personnel
- Escape from custody
- Conspiracy against the Galactic Empire
- Unsanctioned and unsupervisedpiracy
- Fomenting rebellion
- Active sedition
- Assassination attempt against a senior Imperial official
In 5 BBY following the shocking Aldhani heist the Galactic Empire passed two new laws -the Public Order Resentencing Directive and the Imperial Emergency Act- to strengthen its security and better respond to anti-imperial activities. The former directly affected the Imperial justice system, reclassifying all crimes with even indirect effects to the Empire as Class One offenses and stipulating stricter sentences for them.
During that same year, Cassian Andor, one of the perpetrators of the heist, was arrested on the planet Niamos after being caught in the same area as some suspected rebels. For declaring his innocence and trying to reason with the coastal defender stormtroopers performing the arrest, Andor was accused of disruption, anti-Imperial speech, fleeing the scene of an anti-Imperial activity, and damaging Imperial property, which usually carried a six-month prison sentence. As the four crimes were now classified as Class One offenses, the sentence was increased to six years and Andor was transferred to the Narkina 5 Imperial Prison Complex.
In 1 BBY, former Partisan Jyn Erso was arrested on Corulag after being caught carrying unsanctioned weapons and resisting the Imperial forces attempting to arrest her. Erso broke out of Imperial custody after assaulting several officers, and was charged with two Class One offenses: aggravated assault and escape from custody, being sentenced to more than five years of hard work on the Imperial Detention Center & Labor Camp LEG-817.
- Star Wars: Rogue One: The Ultimate Visual Guide
- Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire