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channel, none can be carried out by the functionaries charged with its execution. Secondly, the counter-signature of a Minister or of Ministers of State attests the right of the said Minister or Ministers to carry out the law, Imperial ordinance, or Imperial rescript, in question, and also his or their responsibility for the same. The Ministers of State are the channels through which the Sovereign’s orders are to flow, both at home and abroad. This is made clear by their counter-signatures. But the political responsibility of Ministers cannot be regarded only from a legal point of view: moral considerations must also enter into the question, for the limits defined by law are not the only ones within which Ministers must move; consequently, when a mistake has been committed by the Government, responsibilities should not be confined to the counter-signing Minister or Ministers, but also those Ministers who, though not counter-signers, have been consulted about the matter, ought to be held responsible for the mistake. If, therefore, the fact of counter-signing be taken as the mark by which the limits of responsibility are to be distinguished, it will lead to an undue reliance upon mere form and to the disregarding of real facts. To conclude, though counter-signature indicates the responsibility of the counter-signing Minister, yet responsibility does not arise from the fact of counter-signing.

56. The Emperor on the one hand maintains the supreme control of administrative affairs through the medium of the Cabinet, while on the other he has established the Privy Council, so that in his wisdom he may have at command its assistance, and that the information he obtain may be thorough and impartial. In performing their Heaven-sent mission, Sovereigns must first take advice before they arrive at a decision. Hence the establishment of the Privy Council is just as necessary as that of the Cabinet, to serve as the highest body of the Emperor’s constitutional advisers.

Moreover, when an emergency ordinance is to be issued, or a state of siege is to be declared, or when some extraordinary financial measure is deemed necessary to be taken, the opinion of the Privy Council is to be sought before the measure is carried out, thereby giving weight to the measures of the administrative in the matter. In this way the Privy Council is the palladium of the Constitution and of the law. Such being the importance attached to the functions of the Privy Council, it is the established rule that every Imperial ordinance on which the advice of the Privy Council is asked shall contain a statement of that fact in the preamble to it. The Privy Council is to hold deliberations only when its opinion has been asked for by the Emperor; and it is entirely for him to accept or reject any opinion given. The duty of the Privy Council is to be perfectly loyal and