Royal Cabinet of Meriad

Template:Infobox legislature The Royal Cabinet of Meriad is a council of high-level officials in the government of Meriad who advise the reigning monarch and Prime Minister on matters of state. The members of the Royal Cabinet are traditionally also the heads of the government's major departments and branches, although the council's membership is not governed in any way by law. Since 1994, the size of the Royal Cabinet has remained at 18 by the consensus of those on the council. Members of the Royal Cabinet are chosen by the consensus of the members of the cabinet, with formal appointments being made by the monarch or the Prime Minister. Four of the seats are reserved for advisors not a part of any other official government organs, who are appointed by the Prime Minister and are directly subject to the Office of the Prime Minister of Meriad.

The head of the Meriadni Royal Cabinet is the reigning monarch of Meriad, one of the remaining official roles that the monarch retains. In the event that the monarchy is absent for an extended period of time, the Lord Regent of the Crown is appointed. The Lord Regent of the Crown presides over the Royal Cabinet until such time as the monarch becomes available again. Traditionally, the post of Lord Regent is kept vacant, although a Regent Elect is appointed should the role need to be filled quickly.

Directly subservient to the monarch in the chain of precedence is the Prime Minister of Meriad. The Prime Minister is the only elected official on the cabinet, as well as being the highest-ranking elected official in the country.

Structure

While the Royal Cabinet as a whole is ultimately the supreme executive body in the country, day-to-day tasks involving the basic running of the country are not exercised by the cabinet as a whole, but rather by a variety of cabinet committees with jurisdiction over certain areas of government policy. The majority of the chairs of these committees sit on the Royal Cabinet, but there are only rarely more than four Royal Cabinet members seated on each committee, except by special invitation.

Details of the structure, composition, and creation of cabinet committees are entirely at the discretion of the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is free to reorganize committees and their responsibilities however he wishes, and can appoint or dismiss members freely. Any committee appointments made by the Prime Minister may be voided by a majority vote in the Royal Cabinet as a whole.

Although there have been many changes since the Cabinet committee system was first developed in the early twentieth century, the committees for foreign and military policy, domestic policy, economic policy, and the government's legislative agenda have been more or less permanent fixtures. These and many other committees are referred to as standing committees; others sub-committees are ad hoc committees, which are established to deal with specific matters, and may then be disbanded at the discretion of the Prime Minister. Ad hoc committees are rarer now than throughout most of the twentieth century. Many matters are now expected to be resolved bilaterally between departments, or through more informal discussion, rather than requiring the formation of a committee.

Royal Cabinet Committees

Committee	Chairperson	Notes
National Security Council	Jans Nordvich	The National Security Council is the cabinet committee tasked specifically with maintaining Meriad's national security, intelligence coordination, and defence strategy. The terms of reference of the National Security Council are to consider matters relating to national security, foreign policy, defence, international relations and international development, resilience, energy and resource security.
Economic Affairs Committee	Alessandra Hedstrom
Foreign Affairs Committee	Nathaniel Kolgen
Legislative Affairs Forum	Jennifer Campbell
Escari Affairs Committee	Zebastian Vigen
Internal Affairs Committee	Donat Kocan
Public Works Committee	Caspian Hanssen
Budgetary Affairs Council	Ian Helgstadt
Social Justice Taskforce	Alessia Nordhus
Immigration and Refugee Affairs Taskforce	Isaac Siosalach
Ad Hoc Committees
Terrorism and International Security Taskforce	Jans Nordvich	Attendance restricted to invited individuals

• This table is in accordance with documents released by the Royal Cabinet on March 12th, 2015.

Non-Cabinet Sub-Committees

As a result of the stringent requirements for membership in a Royal Cabinet committee, there are several committees that serve in similar functions as the official committees, but are mode up of civil servants not appointed by the Prime Minister and not subject to the veto of the Royal Cabinet. These sub-committees, labeled Royal Cabinet Advisory Committees, do not have the authority to make binding policy decisions, but craft legislation and make recommendations to the appropriate Royal Cabinet body, be it an official committee or the Royal Cabinet as a whole. Only a handful of these advisory committees are "official," some of which are:

• Advisory Committee for International Terrorism and Extremism
• Advisory Committee for Housing and Income Equality
• Advisory Committee for Economics and Commerce
• Advisory Committee for Internal Affairs
• Advisory Committee for Environmental Preservation and the Interior

Membership of the Royal Cabinet

Membership of the Meriadni Royal Cabinet

Portfolio	Incumbent	Term
Royal Cabinet Ministers
30px Monarch of Meriad	His Royal Majesty King Sketli Edhrophel II	1997-
30px Lord/Lady Regent of the Crown	Vacant Regent Elect: Her Ladyship Lady Sydney Payne	2004-
30px Prime Minister	His Excellency Mr. Jans Nordvich	2012-
30px Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Meriad	General Ebba Isaksson	2008-
30px Director of the Office of International Relations	Nathaniel Kolgen	2009-
30px Director of the Office of Transportation and Communications	Gregory Hauffmann	2010-
30px Director of the Office of the Interior	Philippe Aubert	2005-
30px Director of the Office of Education	Alan Osborne	2008-
Director of the Office of Commerce	Alessandra Hedstrom	2010-
Deputy Director of the Office of the Treasury	Ian Helgstadt	2014-
Director of the Office of Health and Public Services	Caspian Hanssen	2009-
Royal Cabinet Advisors
30px Foreign Intelligence Advisor to the Royal Cabinet	Kristina Munsen	2014-
20px Judicial Advisor to the Royal Cabinet	The Honorable Inger Aaberg	2013-
20px Liaison to the Parliament of Meriad	Francis Walker, MP	2012-
30px First Special Advisor to the Royal Cabinet	Kintan Natarajan	2003-
30px Second Special Advisor to the Royal Cabinet	Niklas Bergh	2007 - 2017
30px Third Special Advisor to the Royal Cabinet	Emma Holmgren	2009-
30px Fourth Special Advisor to the Royal Cabinet	Ariana Morgenstern	2012-

Composition

The Royal Cabinet is composed of the most senior officials of the executive branch of the Meriadni government, as well as several advisors and the monarch.

Leadership

Monarch of Meriad

The reigning monach of Meriad, presently King Sketli Edhrophel II, is a permanent member of the Royal Cabinet of Meriad. The monarch is charged with overseeing the meetings of the cabinet, although the monarch seldom personally attends, and thus most of the official duties of the monarch in the cabinet are exercised by the appointed Regent Elect.

Lord Regent of the Crown

Template:See When the monarch is absent from cabinet meetings, his or her role is fulfilled by the Lord Regent of the Crown, who is appointed by the monarch. The Lord Regent of the Crown, known as the Regent Elect in times when the monarch is present, carries out all of the duties of the monarch in the royal cabinet. The Regent Elect attends cabinet meetings along with the monarch and participates in debate, but does not have a parliamentary vote regarding the proceedings if the monarch is present.

Prime Minister

Template:See The Prime Minster of Meriad is the single most influential individual on the Royal Cabinet in terms of political power. As the head of government, the Prime Minister is the head of the executive branch, and thus is the direct superior of nearly every individual on the cabinet.

Department Heads

The Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Meriad serves as the chief advisor on military affairs to the Prime Minister and the monarch, and holds a permanent seat in the Royal Cabinet.

The Director of the Office of International Relations serves as the chief advisor on foreign policy to the Prime Minister and the monarch, and holds a permanent seat on the Royal Cabinet.

The Director of the Office of Transportation and Communications serves as the chief advisor on internal transportation and communications policy to the Prime Minister and the monarch. The Office of Transportation and Communications has held a seat in the Royal Cabinet since its creation in 1941.

The Director of the Office of the Interior serves as the chief advisor on internal policy to the Prime Minister and the monarch. The Office of the Interior has held a seat in the Royal Cabinet since its creation in 1790.

The Director of the Office of Education serves as the chief advisor on education, both public and private, to the Prime Minister and the monarch. The Director of the Office of Education was given a seat on the Royal Cabinet following the election of Prime Minister Grant Blackburn in 1993.

The Director of the Office of Commerce serves as the chief advisor on international and interregional commerce to the Prime Minister and the monarch. The Office of Commerce has held a seat on the Royal Cabinet since 1936, when it was elevated from a sub-department of the Office of International Relations to a full office.

The Deputy Director of the Office of the Treasury serves as the chief advisor on monetary and budget concerns to the Prime Minister and the monarch. The Deputy Director has held a seat on the Royal Cabinet since 1816, when the Prime Minister's official role of Director of the Office of the Treasury became largely ceremonial and not practical. Prime Minister Werner Torkelsen afforded the Deputy Director a seat so that the Prime Minister might be able to focus on broader matters than the Treasury.

The Director of the Office of Health and Public Services serves as the chief advisor on public health and public infrastructure to the Prime Minister and the monarch. The Office of Health and Public Services has held a seat on the Royal Cabinet since its creation in 1916.

Advisors

In order for the it to properly exercise its role as the country's highest-level executive committee, the Royal Cabinet retains a slate of advisors to assist in the creation of legislation for the Hall of Jarls and advise the Prime Minister on foreign policy and internal matters.

Judicial Advisor to the Royal Cabinet

The Judicial Advisor to the Royal Cabinet serves as the chief advisor to the Prime Minister and monarch in relation to Meriadni and international law. The position was created by executive order of Prime Minister Peter Malmsten in 1968 following Meriad's acceptance into the Ordic League. The Judicial Advisor has typically held a high-level position in the Office of Justice, but this is not always the case.

Liaison to the Parliament of Meriad

Template:See The Liaison to the Parliament of Meriad serves as the chief advisor to the Prime Minister and monarch in relation to the Hall of Jarls. The position was created by executive order of Prime Minister Freye Holstingäd in 1883.

Foreign Intelligence Advisor to the Royal Cabinet

Template:See The Foreign Intelligence Advisor to the Royal Cabinet serves as the secondary advisor on foreign policy to the Prime Minister and the monarch, second only the the Director of the Office of International Relations, with whom the Foreign Intelligence Advisor works closely.

Special Advisors to the Royal Cabinet

Since 1994, four of the eighteen seats on the Royal Cabinet have been reserved for Special Advisors to the Royal Cabinet, who are appointed by the Prime Minister each time a new prime minister is elected. It is not uncommon, however, for advisors to maintain their seats through multiple prime ministers. These four advisors do have votes on procedural matters, although they are not officially connected with any government offices other than that of the Prime Minister.

Kintan Natarajan is the longest-serving special advisor the the Royal Cabinet, having served since his appointment in 2003 by Prime Minister IIan Folkeston. Natarajan was a professor of economics at Sydilströp Regional College until his appointment, and he still serves on the school's board of trustees. His role on the Royal Cabinet is primarily economic in nature, and he frequently assists in the writing of legislation dealing with international and interregional trade regulations.

Niklas Bergh is the second special advisor to the Royal Cabinet, and was appointed in 2007 by Prime Minister Franzan Istlaskotr. Bergh was the director of the city of Duvnafjördur's public health system from 1993 to 2006, and works closely with the Director of the Office of Health and Public Services in crafting legislation responding to public health. Bergh is the oldest individual on the Royal Cabinet at 68, and has announced his intention to retire at the end of 2017.

Emma Holmgren currently occupies the third of the four special advisor positions, and was appointed to the post in 2009 by Prime Minister Franzan Istlaskotr. Holmgren is a lawyer by trade, and worked as a public defense attorney for seventeen years in the city of Eyjanfjalla.

Ariana Morgenstern is the final Special Advisor to the Royal Cabinet, and was appointed to the post in 2012 by Prime Minister Jans Nordvich. Morgenstern is a professor emeritus at the University of Gröstavik, and is a retired employee of the Office of International Relations, having served as ambassador to two foreign nations and serving in numerous other subservient positions.