Royal Cabinet of Meriad

The Royal Cabinet of Meriad is the 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 also the heads of the government's major departments and branches, and usually sitting representatives in the Hall of Jarls.. Since 1994, the size of the Royal Cabinet has remained at 22 by the consensus of those on the council. Members of the Royal Cabinet are chosen by the Prime Minister, with formal appointments being made by the monarch. 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 de-jure 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 de-facto head of the Royal Cabinet.

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

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

Non-Cabinet Advisory 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 made 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

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.

Foreign Intelligence Advisor to the Royal Cabinet
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 Minister of Foreign Affairs, 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 Høstenpunkt.

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 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, having served as ambassador to two foreign nations and serving in numerous other subservient positions.