
The Jedi High Council, less formally known simply as the Jedi Council, was the primary Jedi Council of the Jedi Order during the rule of the Galactic Republic. The High Council met in the southeast tower of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.
The High Council was a group of twelve wise and powerful Jedi Masters elected to guide the Jedi Order, as well as serve as an advisory body for the Supreme Chancellor (a sage governance). The Council was made up of five lifetime members, four long-term members, and three limited-term members. This organizational structure had evolved from the earlier assemblies of Jedi Masters, and during the Great Hyperspace War may have been nothing more than an "inner circle" within the assembly. The Council originally had no set meeting place, and met irregularly on planets such as Ossus, Alderaan, and Chandrila. With the relocation of the Order from Ossus to Coruscant, the Council was established on that world.
The members of the Jedi Council alone chose promising Jedi to join them. No outside body attempted to appoint a member to the Council against its wishes until the Clone Wars, when Supreme Chancellor Palpatine appointed Anakin Skywalker to the Council.