Anti - Sith bill In the latter stages of the Old Sith Wars , the Galactic Senate of the Republic approved a bill that banned the Sith religion . The bill was proposed in response to the carnage inflicted by the Sith upon the galaxy during the Jedi Civil War of 3959 – 3956 BBY . The legislation was approved , and banned not only the religion , but all affiliated organizations and governments , as well as the teachings of the Sith philosophy . It remained in effect from the end of the Jedi Civil War until the New Sith Wars , during which it was used as justification for the Republic ' s battle against the New Sith Empire and its successor organization , the Brotherhood of Darkness . It was apparently nullified sometime during the Great Peace of the Republic , as by the time of the Clone Wars , the Galactic Constitution held provisions that specifically outlawed persecution based on religious affiliation . Description . The bill was crafted to outlaw the Sith Order , a religious organization of Force - sensitives devoted to the dark side and committed to dominating the galaxy . The approval of the legislation resulted in the Galactic Republic ' s banning of the Sith religion , its teachings , and all affiliated organizations from the galaxy . History . After their discovery by the Republic in 5000 BBY , the Sith dedicated themselves to the goal of destroying the Galactic Republic and its guardians , the Jedi . Their mission to do so began with the Great Hyperspace War , and despite the failure of that endeavor , Sith devotees continued to reinvigorate the religion and build organizations based around the philosophy of the dark side . Time and time again , the Sith rose up to challenge the Republic throughout the period that became known as the Old Sith Wars . Despite the repeated victories of the Jedi Order and Republic , the Sith and the societies they established were able to inflict heavy damage upon both groups in every conflict . In 3959 BBY , the Sith returned yet again to challenge the Republic in a conflict known to history as the Jedi Civil War . Led by Darth Revan and Darth Malak , a newly formed Sith Empire devastated the Jedi Order and crippled the Republic . The seemingly inevitable victory of the Sith was stopped only by Revan himself , who turned away from the dark side and defeated his former comrade , Malak . Despite surviving yet another vicious battle with the Sith , the Republic and Jedi were almost irreparably damaged , and remained in a state of crisis for a further five years . In response to the brutal predations of Revan , Malak , and their followers , the Galactic Senate of the Republic drafted a bill that was intended to outlaw the practice of Sith philosophy . The bill was approved and put into effect , making it illegal from that point onward to establish or be a member of a Sith organization or to partake in the advancement of Sith teachings . The bill remained in effect for the next three thousand years , with the Senate maintaining its legal stance against the Sith throughout the Great Galactic War , the Cold War , and the New Sith Wars , all of which were fought against various Sith organizations . Near the close of the New Sith Wars , in a conflict called the Light and Darkness War , the Republic Military was in need of new recruits to continue the fight against the Sith , who were at the time organized into the Brotherhood of Darkness . Republic recruiters used the anti - Sith legislation of three thousand years prior to justify their fight against the Brotherhood , as well as to explain the stance of the Jedi in the conflict . The New Sith Wars and the Light and Darkness War ended in 1000 BBY with the supposed extinction of the Sith at the Seventh Battle of Ruusan . During the new - found Great Peace of the Republic , most of the galaxy was convinced that the Sith would never return . At some point prior to the end of the Clone Wars , the anti - Sith bill was somehow nullified , and the Galactic Constitution which shaped the Republic was made to include a provision that specifically prohibited persecution based on religious or philosophical backgrounds — which included the practices of the Sith . Controversy . Although the bill was in effect for at least three thousand years , its mandate against creating Sith organizations was repeatedly disregarded by those devoted to the Sith philosophy , which led to several galaxy - spanning conflicts between the Republic and the illegally established fraternities . Despite being cited by Republic personnel as a motivation behind their struggles against the Sith , not everyone in the galaxy was convinced that the legislation justified the violence . On the Outer Rim Territories world of Apatros , Republic recruiters used both the illegality of the Brotherhood of Darkness and the supposed moral high - ground of the Republic while attempting to validate their crusades against the Sith in the New Sith Wars . As explained by the Outer Rim Oreworks Company miner Dessel , much of the Outer Rim agreed with the Sith belief that the strong should rule the weak , as life on the Rim was far harsher that it was in the Core Worlds of the Republic . Dessel also stipulated that if the Sith were in charge of the galaxy , they would have a legal stance against the Jedi similar to that of the Republic ' s against the Sith . During the Great Peace of the Republic , the bill was in some way nullified , with Republic law ultimately indicating that any kind of religious persecution was legally inexcusable . In 22 BBY , Coruscant Security Force detective Dherik Rule noted that there was no crime to be pursued when a woman claimed to have discovered a Sith emblem in a dollop of pastebread . Despite this , the Jedi Order maintained their own stance against the Sith , which Supreme Chancellor Palpatine — the alter ego of the Sith Lord Darth Sidious — used to vilify the Jedi during his rise to the position of Galactic Emperor . Behind the scenes . The anti - Sith bill was first mentioned in the 2006 novel " " . " Path of Destruction " , written by Drew Karpyshyn , has been the only mention of the bill to date . In the 2005 of , Chancellor Palpatine states that the Republic has strict laws against the kind of persecution outlined by the anti - Sith bill . This indicates that the bill was removed from Republic law prior to 19 BBY , the year in which the book takes place .