Galactic Constitution/Legends

"When power is invested in many, it can never be seized by one! That was the plan and the purpose when the Republic was formed."

―Bail Organa

The Galactic Constitution was the founding document and highest set of laws in the Old Republic. The Constitution was written c. 25,000 BBY to unify the Core Worlds, and it is implied that the same Constitution existed throughout the Republic's existence; however, it certainly underwent drastic revisions at times (for example, the Ruusan Reformation). There is evidence that, as time went on, the Constitution was continually modified to grant more power to the central government. The "Fathers" of it are unknown.

The Constitution invested executive powers in the General Ministry and Galactic Senate, legislative powers in the Galactic Senate, and judicial powers in the Supreme Court and the Regional Courts. It placed the Republic's capital at Coruscant, set its official language as Old Galactic Standard (later Galactic Basic Standard), and made its official currency the Galactic Credit Standard. It stated the President of the Senate (later Supreme Chancellor) as Head of State and Head of Government and the Minister of Defense as Commander-in-Chief. The Senate was granted the authority to levy a military and to regulate trade. The Constitution had strict provisions against persecution of one's personal beliefs.

Two notable clauses of the Constitution were the Rights of Sentience and Contemplanys Hermi. The former provided for the rights all citizens in the Republic were entitled to, and included the formal outlawing of slavery; the latter allowed for the Corellian system to enact temporary autonomy in exchange for withdrawal from the Senate. The Coruscant Accords, possibly part of the Constitution, determined guidelines for Republic membership.

The Emergency Powers Act, passed in 24 BBY, contained (among other things) an amendment to the Constitution that eliminated term limits for Supreme Chancellors, giving them the choice of when to stand down. During the Clone Wars, the Constitution was increasingly modified by the Senate (among whom a supermajority were loyal to Palpatine) granting more powers into the executive branch. This led to the establishment of the Galactic Empire.

The Galactic Constitution presumably was the basis for the Imperial Charter, no doubt with several major changes including the nature of the executive branch, military and law enforcement, and Rights of Sentience. Whatever constitution the Empire used was presumably overridden by the state of emergency declared in 0 BBY. Later, the New Republic would develop a new constitution that, although somewhat different, was based on the Old Republic's.

Sources

• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
• Cloak of Deception
• Labyrinth of Evil
• Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith novelization
• Dark Empire (First mentioned)
• Dark Empire endnotes

See also

• Imperial Charter (also known as Constitutions of the New Order)
• New Republic Common Charter
• Galactic Alliance Common Charter