College of Imperial Officers (France) (Napoleon's World)

The College of Imperial Officers (French: Collège d'Officiers Impériaux) is the upper house of the General Assembly of the French Empire, but is the weakest of the three. The College of Imperial Officers is similar to the old House of Lords of Britain and, later, England, although their appointments are not based on land ownership or nobility and serve a maximum fifteen year term.

The College of Imperial Officers consists of forty-five men and women personally appointed by the Emperor, serving as a check on the two lower houses by the Imperial Office and bureaucracy. Often, Imperial Officers (OIs) are former bureaucratic ministers or secretaries on good terms with the Emperor, or members of an influential family.

The College of Imperial Officers is unique as it cannot draft legislation, does not hold open debates on legislation and its decisions can only be overruled by a three-fourths majority of both lower houses. As with all French legislation, the Emperor holds final veto power. Due to potentially volatile elections in the lower two houses, the Imperial Officers are viewed as a safeguard against wild swings of legislation on the political spectrum as they are unelected and serve for lengthy periods, and also help with the flow of government as they are the "Emperor's representatives" in the legislative process, thus alleviating the Emperor from having to involve himself personally unless he has to.

The highest-ranking Imperial Officer is the Chairman of the College of Imperial Officers, who is selected for a two-year term every two years by his colleagues. His selection is one of the few positions in the Empire which the Emperor cannot personally overrule, the theory being that he would not appoint Imperial Officers whom he would not approve of being the Chairman of the College.