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A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, especially in a monarchy. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret". A privy council was thus originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors, who could give him confidential advice on matters of state.
It is an important part of the Westminster System with the original being Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council in the United Kingdom. Several other "Privy Councils" have advised the Sovereign. England and Scotland once had separate Privy Councils, but the Act of Union 1707, which united the two countries into Great Britain, replaced both with a single body. Ireland, on the other hand, continued to have a separate Privy Council even after the Act of Union 1800. The Irish Privy Council was abolished in 1922, when the Irish Free State separated from the United Kingdom; it was succeeded by the Privy Council for Northern Ireland, which became dormant after the suspension of the Parliament of Northern Ireland in 1972.
Canada has had its own Privy Council—the Queen's Privy Council for Canada—since 1867 (though while the Canadian Privy Council is specifically "for Canada," the Privy Council discussed above is not "for the United Kingdom") as does Jamaica, the members of whose Privy Council advise the Governor General on the exercise of the royal prerogative of mercy.
The equivalent organ of state in most Commonwealth Realms and some Commonwealth Republics and their constituent provinces or states is called the Executive Council. The British Privy Council is also the ultimate judiciary body - equivalent to a Supreme Court - for many Commonwealth countries that were formerly part of the British Empire (e.g. Jamaica, Belize) and Britain's continuing overseas territories (e.g. Bermuda, Falkland Islands). Privy Council decisions are not binding on courts in England and but as the judges are usually the same judges who sit in the House of Lords, the decisions are considered highly persuasive.
Russia, Denmark and Sweden also have Privy Councils: see Supreme Privy Council, Privy Council of Denmark and Privy Council of Sweden.
Council members are called Privy Counsellors or Privy Councillors.
A privy council is roughly equivalent to what non-monarchial nations such as the United States would call a "cabinet"; although some nations have both a privy council organized around the monarch and a cabinet organized around the prime minister. In the UK the cabinet is actually a committee that is part of the privy council, and is probably its most powerful committee.
See also
- Privy Council of the United Kingdom
- Queen's Privy Council for Canada
- Privy Council of Tonga
- Privy Council (Thailand)
- Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (United Kingdom).
- For Privy Counsellor as a title see also Table of Ranks of the Imperial Russia.
- Council of State, State Council
External links
"Privy council"