The King-in-Council or the Queen-in-Council, depending on the gender of the reigning monarch, is a constitutional term in a number of states. In a general sense, it would mean the monarch exercising executive authority, usually in the form of approving orders, in the presence of the country's executive council.

Norway

In Norway, the "King in Council" ( no, Kongen i statsråd) refers to the meetings of the King and the

Council of State A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...

(the Cabinet), where matters of importance and major decisions are made. The council meets at the Royal Palace and these meetings are normally held every Friday. It is chaired by the king or, if he is ill or abroad, the crown prince. In Norway's Constitution, when formulated as ''King in Council'' (''Kongen i Statsråd'') refers to the formal Government of Norway. When the formulation is merely ''King'', the appointed ministry that the law refers to may alone act with complete authority of the matter assigned in the particular la

A decision that is taken in the State Council under the King's leadership is considered to be a royal decree. If the crown prince chairs, they are crown prince resolutions. When neither the king nor the crown prince chairs, resolutions adopted are called Government resolutions.

Sweden

In Sweden, the King in Council (), more commonly known as Royal Majesty, ( or the short forms ''Kungl.Maj'' or ''K.M:t'') was a concept of constitutional importance in Sweden until 1974. Royal Majesty was the commonly used term to refer to the supreme executive authority under the

1809 Instrument of Government The 1809 Instrument of Government ( sv, 1809 års regeringsform), adopted on 6 June 1809 by the Riksdag of the Estates and King Charles XIII, was the constitution of the Kingdom of Sweden from 1809 to the end of 1974. It came about as a resul ...

, where the king made all decisions of state in the presence of his cabinet ministers. The

1974 Instrument of Government The Basic Laws of Sweden ( sv, Sveriges grundlagar) are the four constitutional laws of the Kingdom of Sweden that regulate the Swedish political system, acting in a similar manner to the constitutions of most countries. These four laws are: th ...

removed the monarch from all exercise of formal political powers which were passed to the newly created Government (), chaired and led in all aspects by the prime minister.

Commonwealth Realms

The King-in-Council is the technical term of

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in feder ...

for the exercise of

executive authority The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a state. In political systems ba ...

in a Commonwealth realm, denoting the monarch acting by and with the

advice and consent Advice and consent is an English phrase frequently used in enacting formulae of bills and in other legal or constitutional contexts. It describes either of two situations: where a weak executive branch of a government enacts something previ ...

of his or her privy council (in the United Kingdom and Canada's federal jurisdiction) or executive council (in most other Commonwealth realms, Australian states, and in Canadian provinces). In those realms and dependencies where the king's powers and functions are delegated to a governor-general, lieutenant governor, or governor, the term ''Governor-General-in-Council'', ''Lieutenant-Governor-in-Council'', or ''Governor-in-Council'' may be used instead of King-in-Council, respectively, although all of these terms describe the same technical process within constitutional law. "The government of 'jurisdiction''.html" ;"title="jurisdiction.html" ;"title="'jurisdiction">'jurisdiction''">jurisdiction.html" ;"title="'jurisdiction">'jurisdiction'' is commonly used as a synonym for any of the aforementioned terms, though the phrase may mean more than one thing in certain areas. An order made by the King-in-Council is known as an ''Order-in-Council'' and such actions are subject to judicial review. Orders-in-Council may be used to implement secondary legislation such as UK statutory instrument (UK), statutory instruments. In practice, decisions made by the King-in-Council are almost always the formal approval to decisions made by the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

, a subcommittee of the privy or executive council that includes the senior ministers of the Crown and often meets without the king or his local representative present. Former Commonwealth realms and dependencies often retain a similar constitutional concept; for example, ''President-in-Council'' in India or ''Chief Executive-in-Council'' in Hong Kong. Similar concepts can also be found in some non-Commonwealth countries.Juliet Edeson (1998).
Powers of Presidents in Republics
, ''Papers on Parliament No. 31'', Parliament of Australia

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:King-In-Council * Australian constitutional law Law of Canada Constitution of the United Kingdom Constitution of Norway Constitution of Sweden Monarchy in Canada Monarchy in Australia Monarchy in New Zealand

Norway

Sweden

Commonwealth Realms

See also

Norway

Sweden

The Commonwealth

Ireland

Footnotes