The King-in-Council or the Queen-in-Council, depending on the

gender Gender is the range of social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender. Although gender often corresponds to sex, a transgender person may identify with a gender other tha ...

of the reigning monarch, is a constitutional term in a number of states. In a general sense, it refers to the monarch exercising executive authority, usually in the form of approving orders, on the advice of the country's privy council or executive council. In countries where the reigning monarch is represented by a

viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the Anglo-Norman ''roy'' (Old Frenc ...

, derivative terms are used instead, such as Governor in Council or Lieutenant Governor in Council.

Norway

In Norway, the King in Council () 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), wherein matters of importance and major decisions are made. The council meets at the Royal Palace, normally every Friday. These meetings are chaired by the monarch or, if he is ill or abroad,

crown prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent. ''Crown prince ...

(the monarch's heir). In Norway's constitution, ''King in Council'' refers to the formal

Government of Norway The Council of State () is a formal body composed of the most senior government minister (government), ministers chosen by the Prime Minister of Norway, Prime Minister, and functions as the collective decision-making organ constituting the Go ...

, whereas merely ''King'' means the appointed ministry that the law refers to may alone act with complete authority on the matter assigned in the particular law. A decision that is taken in the State Council under the sovereign's leadership is considered to be a royal decree. If the crown prince chairs, they are crown prince resolutions. When neither the monarch nor the crown prince chairs, resolutions adopted are called government resolutions.

Sweden

In Sweden, the King in Council (), more commonly known as ''The Royal Majesty'' ( or the short forms ' or ') was a concept of constitutional importance until 1974. ''The Royal Majesty'' was the commonly used term to refer to the supreme executive authority under the 1809 Instrument of Government, under which the monarch made all decisions of state in the presence of his Cabinet ministers. The 1974 Instrument of Government removed the monarch from all exercise of formal political powers, which were passed to the newly created

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

(), chaired and led in all aspects by the

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

. The monarch continues to head the Cabinet councils (the sovereign plus the members of the government) and the Council on Foreign Affairs, recognizing new cabinets (in the Council of State).

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 ...

for the exercise of executive authority in a

Commonwealth realm A Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state in the Commonwealth of Nations that has the same constitutional monarch and head of state as the other realms. The current monarch is King Charles III. Except for the United Kingdom, in each of the re ...

, denoting the

monarch A monarch () is a head of stateWebster's II New College Dictionary. "Monarch". Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest ...

acting by and with the

advice and consent Advice and consent is an English phrase frequently used in List of enacting formulae, enacting formulae of bill (proposed law), bills and in other legal or constitutional contexts. It describes either of two situations: where a weak executive ...

of his or her privy council (in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

's federal jurisdiction) or executive council (in most other Commonwealth realms and the Australian states and Canadian provinces). In those realms and dependencies where the sovereign's powers and functions are delegated to a

governor-general Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

, lieutenant governor, or

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

, the term ''Governor-General-in-Council'', ''Lieutenant Governor-in-Council'', or ''Governor-in-Council'' may be used instead of ''King-in-Council'', all of these terms describing the same technical process within constitutional law. ''The government of /nowiki>jurisdiction">jurisdiction.html" ;"title="/nowiki>jurisdiction">/nowiki>jurisdiction/nowiki>'' is commonly used as a synonym for any of the aforementioned terms, though the phrase may mean more than one thing in certain areas. The Queen of Ceylon with Kotelawala cabinet.jpeg"> Elizabeth II, Queen of Ceylon, with Kotelawala cabinet">her cabinet in Ceylon, 1954 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and her Canadian Ministers at Rideau Hall 1 July 1967.jpg">Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, with her Cabinet, a subcommittee of the Queen's Privy Council, in Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, with her Cabinet, a subcommittee of the Executive Council, 1981 Second Keating Cabinet 1994.jpg, Governor-General Queen of Australia, with his Cabinet, a subcommittee of the Federal Executive Council, outside Government House, Canberra">Government House, 25 March 1994 The Queen attending Cabinet to mark her Diamond Jubilee.jpg">Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom, with her Cabinet, a subcommittee of the Privy Council, at Governor General David Johnston, representing Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, with his Cabinet at Rideau Hall, 4 November 2015 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 British 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 (government), cabinet, a subcommittee of the privy or executive council that includes the senior Minister of the Crown, ministers of the Crown and often meets without the monarch or his local representative present. Former Commonwealth realms and dependencies often retain a similar constitutional concept; for example, ''President-in-Council'' in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

or ''Chief Executive-in-Council'' in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. 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 The Parliament of Australia (officially the Parliament of the Commonwealth and also known as the Federal Parliament) is the federal legislature of Australia. It consists of three elements: the Monarchy of Australia, monarch of Australia (repr ...

Notes

References

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

Norway

Sweden

Commonwealth realms

See also

Sweden

The Commonwealth

Ireland

Notes

References