The Council of State (

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

: ''Statsrådet''), is a formal body composed of the most senior government

ministers Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of governme ...

chosen 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 ...

, and functions as the collective decision-making organ constituting the

executive branch 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 (polity), state. In poli ...

of the

Kingdom Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

. The council simultaneously plays the role of

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 ...

as well as government Cabinet. With the exception of the

and the

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

, who retain their ministerial ranking in their own right, all the other members of the Cabinet concurrently hold the position of ''statsråd'', meaning Councillor of State, and that of Chief of the various departments, not formally being considered 'ministers', although commonly addressed as such. The Cabinet normally convenes every week, usually on Fridays at 11:00 a.m. at the

Royal Palace, Oslo The Royal Palace ( no, Slottet or ''Det kongelige slott'') in Oslo was built in the first half of the 19th century as the Norwegian residence of the French-born King Charles III John, who reigned as king of Norway and Sweden. The palace is th ...

, and is presided over by the

Monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch 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 authority ...

Constitutional basis

Under the 1814

Constitution of Norway nb, Kongeriket Norges Grunnlov nn, Kongeriket Noregs Grunnlov , jurisdiction =Kingdom of Norway , date_created =10 April - 16 May 1814 , date_ratified =16 May 1814 , system =Constitutional monarchy , b ...

, the third-oldest national Constitution still in operation (after the

constitution of San Marino The Constitution of the Republic of San Marino (also called the Constitution of the Most Serene Republic of San Marino) is distributed over a number of legislative instruments of which the most significant are the Statutes of 1600 and the Declara ...

and

US Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the nation ...

), the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

is the head of the

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. However, historical developments such as the introduction of

parliamentarism A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

in 1884 and evolving constitutional tradition have altered the King's role, meaning that the

, holding the leadership of a political party enjoying electoral support, is the ''de facto''

head of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a gro ...

. Accordingly, when Article 3 of the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

reads, "The Executive Power is vested in the

", this nowadays reflects the powers conferred on the elected government, operating through the Council of State and headed by the

. The parliamentary system of Norway entails that the Cabinet must not have Parliament against it, and that the appointment by the

is a formality. The members making up the Council of State require the confidence of the Norwegian legislative body, known as the

Storting The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years bas ...

. In practice, the monarch will ask the leader of a parliamentary block that has a majority in the

to form a government. After elections resulting in no clear majority to any party or coalition, the leader of the party most likely to be able to form a government is appointed

. The fact that the original wording of the

has not been modified to reflect contemporary practice, is a testimony to the widespread conservative sentiments shared across the political aisle that extensive constitutional revision should be avoided. In practice, this means that the function, authority and mandate of the Council of State is heavily influenced by long-standing conventions. The Council of State is established by the following article of the

, stating that

Functions and mandate

The Council of State convenes to formally make decisions on matters of State, passing so-called Royal Resolutions (

: ''Kongelige resolusjoner'') or

Orders in Council An Order-in-Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council ('' Ki ...

. Theoretically, the Royal Resolutions themselves are the King's decisions, but are practically those of the government. However, they require the contra-signature of the

, or, in cases relating to military command, of the

Minister of Defence A defence minister or minister of defence is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from coun ...

in order to be valid. Later, entire records from the proceedings of the Council of State is signed by all its members. This is done in order to remove all personal responsibility on part of the

, in keeping with Article 5 of the

, which states that, "The King's person is sacred; he cannot be censured or accused. The responsibility rests with his Council". Another feature of this system is that the King, when having sanctioned a decision, is referred to as King-in-Council (

: ''Kongen i statsråd''), meaning the King as well as his council. According to the

, certain cases, such as appointments and dismissals of higher office, pardons, provisional measures, church ordinances and ratifications of treaties must be administered by the Council of State. Whilst not prescribed in the Constitution, the signing of bills and other regulations into law is the most important feature of the work being co