Sokovia Accords

"The Sokovia Accords. Approved by 117 countries, it states that the Avengers shall no longer be a private organization. Instead, they'll operate under the supervision of a United Nations panel, only when and if that panel deems it necessary."

- Thaddeus Ross to the Avengers

The Sokovia Accords were a set of legal documents designed to regulate the activities of enhanced individuals, specifically those who work for either government agencies such as S.H.I.E.L.D. or for private organizations such as the Avengers.

Established by the United Nations and ratified by 117 nations, the accords serve as a "middle point" between the Avengers' desire to secure world peace and the international community's concern over the repercussions of the Avengers' actions.

Approaching the Avengers
"For the past four years, you've operated with unlimited power and no supervision. That's an arrangement the governments of the world can no longer tolerate."

- Thaddeus Ross to the Avengers In 2016, a devastating terrorist attack in Lagos, Nigeria resulted in the deaths of twenty-six people, eleven of the victims being relief workers from the African nation of Wakanda. The attack, which was deemed a public relations disaster, prompted the international community to call on the United Nations to create a system of accountability.

One month after the attack, Thaddeus Ross - who had been recently appointed by President Matthew Ellis - approached the Avengers and stated that public opinion was increasingly divided, with some viewing them as heroes and others viewing them as dangerous vigilantes or worse, living weapons of mass destruction.

Ross presented archive footage from New York, Washington D.C., Sokovia and Lagos, all showing destruction and civilians fleeing for their lives to justify governmental oversight for the Avengers, telling them that they have to retire if they did not comply, before leaving to allow them to discuss it among themselves.

Impact on S.H.I.E.L.D.


"I'm here because the President sent me. The Sokovia Accords are the law of the land now and he's concerned you might have some undocumented "assets" working for you."

- Glenn Talbot to Phil Coulson

Since the end of the HYDRA Uprising the US intelligence agency S.H.I.E.L.D. officially didn't exist anymore. However, it continued to secretly operate as the black ops division of President Matthew Ellis's administration. When the Accords were ratified by the US Government, the President sent Brigadier General Glenn Talbot to speak with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Director Phil Coulson about registering all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s "undocumented enhanced assets", mainly the Inhuman operatives, because that was required by the Accords. Talbot and Coulson had a discussion about the rightfulness of the Accords themselves, compared to the Index of Superhumans once used by S.H.I.E.L.D. and eventually regretted. However, Talbot revealed to the President the location of the Playground. Under the leadership of a new director, Jeffrey Mace, S.H.I.E.L.D. accepted the Accords, therefore becoming legal again.

Questioning Effectivity
"The Accords might be handy for keeping tabs on enhanced individuals in the field, but regulating them seems a bit of a political pipe dream. Plus, I don't see Thor signing on a dotted line if he ever shows up again."

- Maria Hill to Nick Fury While discussing the Clash of the Avengers with Nick Fury, Maria Hill expressed skepticism about how effective regulating enhanced individuals would be, since it seemed to be a purely political proposal made with no regard for feasibility.

According to a newspaper clipping several months after the defeat of Hive, Quake's vigilantism made some people question the effectivity of the Accords in actual implementation of the measures.

Unintended Consequences
"If it weren't for those Accords, Vision would have been right here." "I remember your signature on those papers, Colonel." "That's right. And I'm pretty sure I paid for that."

- James Rhodes and Thaddeus Ross The Accords caused a schism in the Avengers, as while Tony Stark supported the Accords due to his role in the Ultron Offensive, Steve Rogers recognized that politicians having power over potential missions may be a terrible idea in an emergency and disliked the authoritarian nature of its stipulations, noting that signing the Accords would be "[surrendering] the right to choose". The schism came to a head when Helmut Zemo framed Bucky Barnes for a terrorist attack that occurred during the signing of the Accords, and the Accords, combined with Zemo's exploitation of the schism it had caused, ultimately tore the Avengers apart, causing Stark's pro-Accords faction and Rogers' anti-Accords faction to destroy an airport as the former attempted to arrest the latter, and ultimately causing the anti-Accords faction to either become fugitives or be placed under house arrest, ruining any chance of a coordinated defense.

The Watchdogs, with the help of Senator Ellen Nadeer, got the list from the Accords of several Inhumans around the world and their locations. They caused blackouts in major cities around the United States of America, and one of the Watchdogs presented himself as an Inhuman to the world in order to incite anti-Inhuman bigotry, claiming that more blackouts would occur if the registration of Inhumans did not stop. Other Watchdog members used the blackout in order to kill 17 registered Inhumans.

In 2018, the Infinity War came upon Earth when the Black Order arrived in search of the Time and Mind Stones, which they intended to collect for their adoptive father Thanos, who intended to wipe out half of all life in the universe. After Iron Man disappeared in the aftermath of the Attack on Greenwich Village and Vision was almost killed by Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight, it became clear to James Rhodes that the Accords had seriously weakened the Avengers. After the fugitive Avengers arrived after rescuing Vision, Thaddeus Ross ordered Rhodes to arrest them even though, as Rogers pointed out, the remaining Avengers needed all the help they could get. Rhodes, already regretting his support for the Accords and alienated by Ross's warped priorities, ended the call and went with the fugitives to Wakanda, knowing he would be court-martialed. Ultimately, the dysfunction resulting from the Accords was, at the very least, a necessary contributing factor to the Avengers' first outright failure, as Thanos managed to obtain all of the Infinity Stones, leading to him wiping out half of all life not just on Earth, but in the universe.

Due to the Decimation incident caused by Thanos prior to both the Reversal of the Decimation and the Battle of Earth five years later, the exact fate of Sokovia Accords remained unknown. During this time, the Avengers were able to go on a mission to ambush Thanos and the Time Heist without any oversight, James Rhodes did not face a court-martial, Clint Barton did not receive any legal punishment for leaving house-arrest, and Bruce Banner was able to continue working as a scientist in his Hulk form without facing any consequences. During the funeral of Tony Stark, Ross himself attended the service, but did not take any action against any of the Avengers who he had previously dubbed fugitives. It is unclear if the Avengers were simply pardoned or if the Accords were done away with altogether.

Regulations
"How does this registration thing work? You put us on a list then what?" "Well, we collect fingerprints, DNA samples. We run a power analysis to categorize your threat level which is also used to determine health risks." "Fine, I'll register, sign me up."

- Lincoln Campbell and Glenn Talbot The currently known regulations established by the Sokovia Accords include: For the purposes of the Accords, an "enhanced individual" is defined as any person, human or otherwise, with superhuman capabilities. This includes individuals whose powers are an innate function of their biology as well as individuals who utilize highly advanced technology to grant themselves superhuman capabilities. However, individuals with advanced prostheses do not seem to be considered "enhanced", even if their prostheses give them capabilities beyond those of ordinary humans.
 * Any enhanced individuals who agree to sign must register with the United Nations and provide biometric data such as fingerprints and DNA samples.
 * Those with secret identities must reveal their legal names and true identities to the United Nations.
 * Those with innate powers must submit to a power analysis, which will categorize their threat level and determine potential health risks.
 * Those with innate powers must also wear tracking bracelets at all times.
 * Any enhanced individuals who sign are prohibited from taking action in any country other than their own, unless they are first given clearance by either that country's government or by a United Nations subcommittee.
 * Governments are forbidden from deploying enhanced individuals outside of their own national borders, unless those individuals are given clearance as described above. The same rule also applies to non-government organizations that operate on a global scale (including S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers).
 * Any enhanced individuals who do not sign will not be allowed to take part in any police, military, or espionage activities, or to otherwise participate in any national or international conflict, even in their own country.
 * As a corollary, they will not be allowed to participate in any active missions undertaken by private or governmental law enforcement/military/intelligence organizations (such as S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers).
 * Any enhanced individuals who use their powers to break the law (including those who take part in extralegal vigilante activities), or are otherwise deemed to be a threat to the safety of the general public, may be detained indefinitely without trial.
 * If an enhanced individual violates the Accords, or obstructs the actions of those enforcing the Accords, they may likewise be arrested and detained indefinitely without trial.
 * The use of technology to bestow individuals with innate superhuman capabilities is strictly regulated, as is the use and distribution of highly advanced technology (such as Asgardian and Chitauri weaponry).
 * The creation of self-aware artificial intelligences is completely prohibited.
 * The Avengers will no longer be a private organization and will operate under the supervision of the United Nations.

All members of the Avengers are subject to the same conditions as enhanced individuals, even if they are not enhanced themselves: Black Widow was required to sign so she could continue serving on the Avengers, and Hawkeye was incarcerated on the Raft after violating the Accords.

Key Players
Ratifying Nations
 * Austria
 * France
 * Germany
 * Italy
 * Russia
 * Sokovia
 * United Kingdom
 * United States of America
 * Wakanda
 * India
 * People's Republic of China
 * Kenya
 * 107 other nations

Supporters
 * International Community
 * Matthew Ellis, President of the United States of America
 * Thaddeus Ross, United States Secretary of State
 * T'Chaka †, former king of Wakanda
 * T'Challa (Black Panther), king of Wakanda
 * Glenn Talbot †, head of the ATCU
 * Everett Ross, commander of the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre
 * Phil Coulson, former Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.
 * Jeffrey Mace †, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.
 * Ellen Nadeer †, United States Senator
 * Known enhanced individuals who signed
 * Tony Stark (Iron Man) †, Avenger
 * Vision †, Avenger
 * James Rhodes (War Machine), Avenger
 * Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow) †, ex-Avenger
 * Many Inhumans
 * Elena Rodriguez (Yo-Yo), S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and former member of the Secret Warriors
 * JT James (Hellfire)
 * At least 17 other Inhumans †
 * Other
 * Lincoln Campbell †, Inhuman, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and former member of the Secret Warriors (planned to sign the Accords)
 * Daisy Johnson (Quake), Inhuman, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and former leader of the Secret Warriors (previously violated the Accords)

Opponents
 * Supporters of Captain America
 * Steve Rogers (Captain America), former leader of the Avengers
 * James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes (Winter Soldier)
 * Sam Wilson (Falcon), ex-Avenger
 * Wanda Maximoff (Scarlet Witch), ex-Avenger
 * Clint Barton (Hawkeye), ex-Avenger
 * Scott Lang (Ant-Man), professional thief; uses shrinking technology that violates the Accords
 * Sharon Carter, CIA agent and ex-S.H.I.E.L.D. agent (secretly worked with Steve Rogers)
 * The Watchdogs - exploited Inhuman registration for genocidal purposes, but otherwise considered the Accords inadequate
 * Robbie Reyes (Ghost Rider), a vigilante whose activities violated the Accords
 * Aida †, an android designed by Holden Radcliffe whose existence violated the Accords
 * Alisa Jones †, a superpowered murderer who was slated to be imprisoned on the Raft for her crimes
 * Hank Pym, the former Ant-Man whose shrinking technology violates the Accords.
 * Hope van Dyne (Wasp), Hank Pym's daughter who aided him and thus violated the Accords.

Trivia

 * The Sokovia Accords are a version of the Superhuman Registration Act from the  comic series. The Act is a piece of legislation that required all enhanced individuals to reveal their secret identities and disclose their powers for regulation.
 * Street-level heroes don't seem to be affected by the Accords, as none of the Defenders were demanded to sign the Accords, while Spider-Man was shown to operate without having to go through the Accords' regulations.