The Council of State ( Norwegian: ''Statsrådet''), is a formal body composed of the most senior government ministers 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 ...

, 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. In political systems ...

of the Kingdom. 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 mo ...

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 co ...

, 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, 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 , ...

, the third-oldest national Constitution still in operation (after the constitution of San Marino and US Constitution), the

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

is the head of the

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, 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 ...

. 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 t ...

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 ...

. 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 entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these pr ...

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 ...

. 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 ( Norwegian: ''Kongelige resolusjoner'') or Orders in Council. 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 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 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 ap ...

( Norwegian: ''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 conducted during sessions of the Council of State.

Duty of remonstrance

Article 30 of the Norwegian Constitution states that any member of the Council of State, if he or she is of the opinion that the "King's decision conflicts with the form of government or the laws of the Realm" is bound by a "duty to make strong remonstrances against it, as well as to enter his opinion in the records." The Article continues by stating that a Member who has not voiced such objections is liable of impeachment by the

should a decision made in the Council of State later be found unlawful. For the same reason, the aforesaid Article prescribes that all of the decisions made in the Council of State shall be put down in official records.

Requirements of membership

Whilst most members of the Cabinet originate from within the

and will have their seats deputised during their time in office, being Member of Parliament is not a requirement. However, since the introduction of

in 1884, all members of the Cabinet must have the express support of the legislature. In addition, they must hold Norwegian citizenship and be eligible to vote, meaning that they have attained the age of 18. Until a 2012 amendment, there was a requirement that a majority of the members had to be affiliated with the

Church of Norway The Church of Norway ( nb, Den norske kirke, nn, Den norske kyrkja, se, Norgga girku, sma, Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. The church ...

, the national state church. When church matters are on the table, all members of the Cabinet not registered with the

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chri ...

would not be in attendance.

Order of precedence and succession

There is no official order of succession to the premiership of Norway, but the

has traditionally been regarded as akin to Deputy Prime Minister, although no such title officially exists. The King established on 1 July 1993 an

Order of precedence An order of precedence is a sequential hierarchy of nominal importance and can be applied to individuals, groups, or organizations. Most often it is used in the context of people by many organizations and governments, for very formal and state o ...

to direct seating and ranking on formal occasions. Here, the Minister of Finance enjoys the foremost rank after the

, with the

only coming in third, behind the minister of Agriculture and Food.

Current composition

External links

Article in a Norwegian online encyclopedia
(Norwegian)

* ttp://www.regjeringen.no Official web portal of the Norwegian government {{Europe topic, Cabinet of , title=National cabinets of Europe Government of Norway