Commonwealth Assembly

The Supreme Council of the Socialist Cosmic Empire, more commonly known as the Imperial Supreme Council or simply Imperial Council, was the legislature of the Socialist Cosmic Empire. A unicameral body, the Council was comprised of one Imperial Councillor from every member state, and met in the Imperial Council Chambers on Floor One of the Palace of Unity in Rome, Terra.

Organization
In accordance with the Articles of the Empire, sessions of the full Council of the Socialist Cosmic Empire were presided over by the Premier of the Socialist Cosmic Empire (barring special circumstances, such as the Premier being off-planet), who stood at a podium near the north wall while the councilors sat in seats arranged in rising rows of twenty. The podium determined who could speak to the Council for the record, and recognized speakers could only address the Council from the speaker's floor, located in the center of the room between two sets of seats for the councilors. Councilors had computer terminals at their work stations that they could use to silently contact one-another or those outside the chambers, and lights on each terminal to indicate a desire to address the Council. No one could speak who had not been recognized by the podium.

The Imperial Council conducted its business during sessions that convened once every six months, with three-week intervals. According to the Articles of the Federation, all Federation Councilors had to be present at the beginning of a session in order to participate in future meetings of the Council; those who were not present had to wait until the next session convened in six months. Elevation to the Imperial Council was determined by each Member State. The Republic of Bajor, for instance, determined its Imperial Councilor by having him or her nominated by the First Minister and then confirmed by the Chamber of Ministers. The Andorian Empire's councilor was determined by which political party held the majority of seats in the Parliament Andoria, while Betazed's councilor was popularly elected.

The Council conducted much of its business by dividing itself into numerous sub-councils with jurisdiction over specific areas of import to the Empire; the Security Council, for instance, had jurisdiction over areas of Imperial security. Membership in sub-councils was determined by the Premier, who nominated a councilor for a sub-council who was then confirmed by the full Council. Some of the sub-councils, such as the Security and Judiciary Councils, were permanent, while others were created on an as-needed basis; the councilors from the five founding Member States were automatically appointed to the permanent sub-councils. During sub-council sessions, members of the sub-council could speak without having to be recognized by the sub-council chair; sub-council sessions were usually presided over by the chair of the sub-council rather than the President, though the President retained that option. The President was generally expected to solicit the active participation of the appropriate sub-council in determining executive policies; as such, there was far less separation of powers between the Council and the Presidency than in many traditional Earth governments.