Imperial Senate

Having meticulously orchestrated the Clone Wars, the Sith Lord known as Darth Sidious continued to project his public image as Sheev Palpatine, the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic. He convened a special session of Congress and declared himself Galactic Emperor, transforming the Republic into a New Order reflecting his vision. The representatives overwhelmingly endorsed the announcement, with only a few dissenting voices, including Padmé Amidala and Bail Organa.

Sidious secretly intended to eventually abolish the Senate, but recognized that his regime's control was not yet absolute. Until the opportune moment arrived, Sidious was compelled to maintain its facade, though it was merely a shadow of its former self. Under Palpatine's dominion, he alone wielded true power, while the Senate's collective voice held no real authority. Following the shift in power, the Galactic Senate was renamed the Imperial Senate, and the Senate Plaza became the Imperial Plaza. Furthermore, architectural and design modifications were implemented to erase any remnants of the former Republic, and a colossal statue of the Emperor was erected outside the Senate Rotunda.

Many citizens believed that the Emperor was indeed restoring stability to the galaxy, as he delivered on his promises to eliminate corruption in the Senate. Simultaneously, numerous political adversaries of Palpatine mysteriously disappeared. During the initial year of the Imperial Era, senators were primarily concerned with advocating for their own worlds, leaving Kashyyyk vulnerable when it was besieged by the Empire.

An atmosphere of implied threats and pervasive distrust permeated among worlds, while the actual enactment of legislation became a rare occurrence. Prior to the mission to Ryloth, Instructor Pell Baylo attempted to assassinate Palpatine, remaining loyal to the ideals of the Republic rather than the new Empire. In a conversation with the Emperor, he rejected the notion that the Senate's approval legitimized the Empire, arguing that the Senate had betrayed its pact with the people of the Republic by allowing Palpatine to seize power.

In 9 BBY, Imperial Senator Daho Sejan, representing Utapau in the Senate, sought to expand his influence. Leveraging his position, Sejan orchestrated the capture of Jedi Knight Cal Kestis by his forces. Kestis was a high-value target for the Empire, and Sejan planned to deliver him to the Emperor. Sejan's ambitions extended beyond Kestis, as he intended to extract information about other surviving Jedi. However, Sejan's scheme backfired when Kestis feigned capture to acquire Imperial military intelligence in Sejan's possession. The subsequent events following Kestis' escape ultimately led to the Senator's demise.

Ultimately, the Emperor maintained the Senate to give Imperial worlds the illusion of participation in the government. Secretly, the Emperor had intended to dissolve the Senate since the Empire's formation in the proclamation of the New Order, but needed its continued existence to preserve order until the Death Star was operational, allowing him to rule through fear.

By its fourteenth year of existence, the Imperial Senate's influence continued to decline as the Emperor's regional governors assumed greater control over their respective territories. Palpatine actively worked to diminish the Senate's power and strip away its remaining authority. In 5 BBY, Senator Mon Mothma voiced her support for a proposal by Senator Dhow before the Senate, attempting to raise awareness about the suffering of the people of Ghorman. However, the senate chamber was sparsely populated, with most attendees focused on their datapads and news of a rebel attack on Aldhani.

Following the attack on Aldhani, the Emperor introduced the Imperial Emergency Act to the Senate, which was subsequently passed. The new act expanded the authority of the Imperial Army, Imperial Navy, and the Imperial Security Bureau. ISB officers were granted the authority to request personnel and resources from the army and navy, and with an increased focus in Supervisor responsibilities, were allowed to access data from sectors other than their their own. The act also led to the immediate cancellation of local festivals and customs suspected of harboring rebel activity, as the rebels on Aldhani had exploited the Eye of Aldhani festival celebrations as cover for their heist. Palpatine also proposed the Public Order Resentencing Directive to the Senate, which doubled the sentences of Imperial prisoners and extended the sentences of future convictions. These measures drew strong criticism from dissenting senators like Mon Mothma, who described the Directive as "the next step into an all too predictable march towards complete unchallenged authority." Mothma's protests sparked some debate within the Senate, but both acts were ultimately passed.

By 3 BBY, only forty planets bothered to send representatives to the Apprentice Legislature program—which began under the Galactic Republic and continued in the Imperial Senate though. Its decline in activity mirrored the Senate's diminishing power, although Apprentice Legislator Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan considered it one of the few checks on the Emperor's authority. At one point, legislation aimed at strengthening labor rights for refugees was presented in the Senate, with Leia advocating for its passage. The bill ultimately cost the chief operating officer of a major manufacturing hub on Coruscant billions, leading that COO to place a bounty on both Leia and Mon Mothma.

The first debate of the Apprentice Legislature that year involved selecting a location for a new Imperial Academy for aeronautical engineering and design. They chose the planet Arreyel, unaware that this was a trap set by the Empire to justify drilling into Arreyel and seizing control of the radiation source beneath its crust. The Apprentice Legislature received a special commendation for recommending the planet, and the people of Arreyel were given six weeks to evacuate, without compensation, as the Empire began planning to construct planet-wide factories there. Shortly after, the senator of Christophsis was arrested and sent to an Imperial work camp, as the Empire discovered their support for the rebels on the planet. Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin announced the arrests to the Imperial Senate, and while many were angered by the actions, they applauded to protect their home worlds.

Several senators, including Mon Mothma and Bail Organa, began attending strategy sessions, disguised as dinner parties, at the Royal Palace of Alderaan, where they discussed methods to limit the Empire's power. Although the Senate now possessed limited influence, Organa hoped that it would be remembered for the alliances forged within it, which would contribute to restoring freedom to the galaxy. He encouraged his daughter to cultivate similar alliances within the Apprentice Legislature, starting with Harp Allor of Chandrila, a classmate in her pathfinding course.

Both Leia and her fellow Apprentice Legislator, Amilyn Holdo of Gatalenta, aided the growing rebel Alliance in evacuating from their base on Paucris Major after Leia discovered that the Empire was aware of the base and was targeting her father and the other rebels stationed there. Leia and Holdo joined the rebellion shortly after.

Some representatives, however, remained unaware of the extent of the Senate's ineffectiveness. Nadea Tural, senator of Thrad, still believed that her votes on important issues made a difference. Like many other senators, she assumed that the outcome of a Senate vote was enacted into law. Little did Tural know that the Emperor rarely implemented the voted changes, allowing the senators to revel in their futile pride.

Worse still, as the Emperor planned to shut down the Senate, the Imperial Military also disregarded the established laws of warfare. Following the fall of the planet Lasan, the Senate banned the use of the T-7 ion disruptor rifle. However, the military ignored the Senate's decree and proceeded with plans to produce the disruptors on Lothal, violating surrender protocols by destroying damaged transports and unarmed civilian craft. The Senate was also informed about the destruction of Jedha City by the Empire, and was told that it was caused by a mining disaster. Nevertheless, the Rebellion against the Empire continued to gain support within the council. Certain senators, including Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan, readily used their diplomatic immunity to assist the Alliance.

The final catalyst for the Senate's demise occurred in 0 BBY, when Senator Leia Organa attempted to smuggle the stolen plans for the Death Star, a moon-sized battle station capable of destroying entire planets. Organa's blockade runner was subsequently captured by Sith Lord Darth Vader, the Emperor's apprentice and right-hand man. Concerned about generating further sympathy for the Rebellion within the Senate, Vader ordered his troops to transmit a false distress signal and inform the senators that all aboard Organa's vessel had perished. Shortly thereafter, the Emperor dissolved the Imperial Senate, transferring direct control to regional governors and the military.

At the time of the Senate's dissolution, General Cassio Tagge expressed concern that the Rebellion would continue to garner support within the Imperial Senate, until Governor Tarkin announced the Emperor's decree to the Joint Chiefs. Tarkin assured them that the governors would fill the power vacuum, and that the DS-1 Death Star Mobile Battle Station would instill fear throughout the galaxy, ensuring the compliance of the star systems to the Empire's authority. Nadea Tural and a dozen other Rebel sympathizers within the Senate were arrested for their views and imprisoned in the Arrth-Eno Prison Complex on Coruscant. The Alliance launched an attempt to both rescue those senators and assassinate the Emperor. However, their plans were foiled, and all captive senators perished.

Following the Empire's defeat at the Battle of Endor, the Rebel Alliance reorganized into the New Republic and re-established the Imperial Senate as the Galactic Senate, modeled after the Old Republic Senate, on the planet Chandrila. Guided by the principles of unity, accountability, and legality, the Senate sought to avoid repeating past mistakes and attempted to limit the powers of the Chancellor to prevent the rise of another Emperor. Nonetheless, after the retirement of Mon Mothma, the Senate fractured into two factions, the Centrists and the Populists, a political division that threatened to undermine the New Republic's egalitarian ideals, all while an Imperial successor regime grew on the fringes of the galaxy.

Rella Sol, a pilot in the Imperial Navy's Titan Squadron and the child of two former Imperial senators, was among the few in the Empire who believed that the Senate's dissolution was a reckless decision by the Emperor, arguing that it could have maintained order in the aftermath of the Battle of Endor had it remained in existence.

The Imperial Senate was headed by the Galactic Emperor, who appointed himself for a lifetime term under his own authority and jurisdiction. The Emperor held ultimate authority over the Senate and the Empire, and could express his support or opposition to laws and legislation, although he technically lacked the power to enforce these against an overwhelming majority of dissenting senators. Nevertheless, he could address the Senate at any time, and all senators recognized by the Vice Chair were required to yield. The Emperor's arrival in the chamber was announced by a loud horn. He also had the authority to propose his own legislation, as Palpatine did with the PORD and the Imperial Emergency Act. Additionally, he alone possessed the power to enact voted issues into law—which he rarely exercised.

The Vice Chair oversaw all sessions and meetings, similar to the position of the same name in the Galactic Senate. During the early Imperial Era, this role was filled by Grand Vizier Mas Amedda, although by 5 BBY, he was absent from most sessions as the Senate gradually lost its power. The Vizier had the authority to arrest any member of the Senate at any time, even during a session, maintain order, and expel disruptive senators, and would accompany the Emperor during his addresses. According to ancient tradition, each session of the senate was brought to order by either the Oathkeeper or the Speaker, also known as the Grand Vizier.

The Imperial Senate theoretically possessed legislative powers. While senators regularly voted on issues in the name of their constituents, only the Emperor had the authority to actually enact those votes into law. Although Palpatine rarely attended proceedings, few senators dared to demand answers in the Senate chamber, fearing reprimand or even silencing. While senators enjoyed diplomatic immunity, they lacked the right to challenge an execution order issued by a military commander, particularly in cases of treason. In practice, the Senate, with the exception of a few outspoken senators like Mon Mothma, did not advise the Emperor but instead applauded his every decree, effectively transforming the Senate into a rubber-stamping mechanism designed to maintain the illusion that Palpatine followed the will of the people.

By 5 BBY, the Senate's powerlessness had become evident: sessions were sparsely attended, and many senators who did attend were largely indifferent or hostile to the few representatives who still dared to question Imperial authority, such as Mon Mothma or Bail Organa. Emperor Palpatine rarely appeared before the assembly, and other imperial authorities such as Grand Vizier Mas Amedda or Chief of Staff Sly Moore also rarely bothered to participate in the Senate's proceedings, recognizing its diminished influence. The Apprentice Legislator program had also become nearly irrelevant, with only 40 star systems still sending representatives.

To address senators' concerns about potential war crimes committed by the Imperial Navy, Imperial Naval Regulation 132.CAT.ch(22) stipulated that if a gunnery captain ordered their gunners to destroy an escape pod, they were required to complete Form XTM-51-CT to explain the decision to the Senate. The regulation included an exception for any active battle with an intensity above Category V, allowing officers to order the destruction of escape pods without concern in such cases.

The following is a list of documents passed by the Imperial Senate or related to its operation:

• Proclamation of the New Order [2]
• Imperial Rebirth Act [39]
• Imperial Defense Recruitment Bill [40]
• Imperial Emergency Act [23]
• Public Order Resentencing Directive [23]
• Imperial Naval Regulation 132.CAT.ch(22) [38]