State Council of Romania

The State Council (Romanian: Consiliul de Stat) was the supreme executive authority of Communist Romania from 1961 to 1989.

The State Council was created in 1961 with an amendment to the 1952 Constitution, replacing the Presidium of the Great National Assembly. It consisted of a president, three vice presidents and thirteen members. By the end of the Communist era, it comprised a president, four vice presidents, a secretary and 15 members.

According to Article 63 of the 1965 Constitution, the State Council was "the supreme organ of state power in permanent session." It was elected by the GNA from among its members and held office for the GNA's duration--in practice, five years. As with all government bodies in Romania, it was nominally subordinate to the GNA. In practice, by 1989, all but two of its members were also members of the Central Committee of the Romanian Communist Party and also held important party posts.

The State Council exercised two kinds of power. Among its permanent powers (defined in article 63 of the Constitution) were:

Under article 64, the State Council also assumed certain prerogatives of the GNA when that body was not in session or in case of emergency. When the GNA was not in session, article 64 gave the State Council the right to set guidelines for the laws and supervise the local councils. It could also issue governmental regulations in lieu of law. If such regulation was not approved by the GNA at its next session, it was considered revoked. In exceptional circumstances, the State Council could also exercise control over the budget and economic plan, appoint and dismiss ministers and justices of the Supreme Court, mobilize the armed forces and declare war. In practice, the GNA's infrequent meetings (it only sat for twice a year) as well as the philosophy of democratic centralism meant that the State Council's decisions had the force of law.

Article 68 stated that all State Council decisions were to be made collectively. However, outside of Romania, the president of the State Council was reckoned as the country's head of state.

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