Guardians of the Laws or Guard of Laws ( pl, Straż Praw) was a short-lived supreme

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dire ...

governing body of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...

established by the

Constitution of May 3, 1791 The Constitution of 3 May 1791,; lt, Gegužės trečiosios konstitucija titled the Governance Act, was a constitution adopted by the Great Sejm ("Four-Year Sejm", meeting in 1788–1792) for the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, a dual mo ...

. It was abolished, together with other reforms of the Constitution, after the Polish defeat in the summer of Polish–Russian War of 1792. Executive power in the reformed Commonwealth government, according to Article V and Article VII, rested in the hands of "the king in his council", the council being a cabinet of ministers known as the Guardians of the Laws. The ministries could not create or interpret the laws, and all acts of the foreign ministry were provisional, subject to parliament (

Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of t ...

)'s approval. This council was presided over by the king and comprised the Roman Catholic Primate of Poland (who was also president of the Education Commission) and five ministers appointed by the king: a minister of police, minister of the seal (i.e. of internal affairs – the seal was a traditional attribute of the earlier

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

), minister of the seal of foreign affairs, minister ''belli'' (of war), and minister of treasury. In addition to the ministers, council members included – without a vote – the

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 is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wif ...

, the Marshal of the Sejm, and two secretaries. This royal council was a descendant of similar councils that had functioned over the previous two centuries since King Henry's Articles (1573) and the recent Permanent Council. Acts of the king required the countersignature of the respective minister. The ministers, however, were responsible to Sejm, which could dismiss them by a two-thirds

vote of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

by the members of both houses. The stipulation that the king, "doing nothing of himself, ... shall be answerable for nothing to the nation", parallels the British constitutional principle that "The King can do no wrong." (In both countries, the respective minister was responsible for the king's acts.) Ministers could be also held accountable by the

Sejm court A sejm court was a Polish court that sat in cases of impeachment – in the words of the May 3 Constitution of 1791 (article VIII: the judicial authority) – of government " ministers ..charged with breach of law by a deputation designated to ...

, and Sejm could demand an impeachement trial of a minister with a simple majority vote. The decisions of the royal council were carried out by commissions, including the previously created Commission of National Education, and the new Commissions for Police, the Military and the Treasury, whose members were elected by

References

{{Reflist 1791 in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Political history of Poland Legal history of Poland