Guardians of the Laws orGuard of Laws (Polish:Straż Praw) was a short-lived supremeexecutive governing body of thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth established by theConstitution of May 3, 1791. It was abolished, together with other reforms of the Constitution, after the Polish defeat in the summer ofPolish–Russian War of 1792.
Executive power in the reformed Commonwealth government, according to Article V and Article VII, rested in the hands of "the king in his council", the council being acabinet of ministers known as the Guardians of the Laws.[1][2]
The ministries could not create or interpret the laws, and all acts of the foreign ministry were provisional, subject to parliament (Sejm)'s approval.[1] This council was presided over by the king and comprised the Roman CatholicPrimate of Poland (who was also president of the Education Commission) and five ministers appointed by the king: a minister of police, minister of the seal (i.e. of internal affairs – the seal was a traditional attribute of the earlierChancellor), minister of the seal of foreign affairs, ministerbelli (of war), and minister of treasury.[3] In addition to the ministers, council members included – without a vote – theCrown Prince, theMarshal of the Sejm, and two secretaries.[1] This royal council was a descendant of similar councils that had functioned over the previous two centuries sinceKing Henry's Articles (1573) and the recent Permanent Council. Acts of the king required the countersignature of the respective minister.[4] The ministers, however, were responsible to Sejm, which could dismiss them by a two-thirdsvote of no confidence by the members of both houses.[3][5][6] The stipulation that the king, "doing nothing of himself, ... shall be answerable for nothing to the nation", parallels the British constitutional principle that "The King can do no wrong." (In both countries, the respective minister was responsible for the king's acts.)[4] Ministers could be also held accountable by theSejm court, and Sejm could demand animpeachement trial of a minister with a simple majority vote.[4][5]
The decisions of the royal council were carried out by commissions, including the previously createdCommission of National Education, and the new Commissions for Police, the Military and the Treasury, whose members were elected bySejm.[4]