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

gender Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures u ...

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 o ...

(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 The politics of Norway take place in the framework of a parliamentary, representative democratic constitutional monarchy. Executive power is exercised by the Council of State, the cabinet, led by the prime minister of Norway. Legislative power i ...

. When the formulation is merely ''King'', the appointed

ministry Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian ...

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, where the king 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. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

(), chaired and led in all aspects by the

prime minister A prime minister, premier 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. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

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 (polity), state, namely, the executive (government), executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as th ...

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 b ...

in a

Commonwealth realm A Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state in the Commonwealth of Nations whose monarch and head of state is shared among the other realms. Each realm functions as an independent state, equal with the other realms and nations of the Commonwealt ...

, 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 previo ...

of his or her

privy council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

(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 Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

'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 Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

, or

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

, 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 * Filing ...

, a subcommittee of the privy or executive council that includes the senior

ministers of the Crown Minister of the Crown is a formal constitutional term used in Commonwealth realms to describe a minister of the reigning sovereign or viceroy. The term indicates that the minister serves at His Majesty's pleasure, and advises the sovereign or ...

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 India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

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

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. 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 Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislature, legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the ...

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