The Council of State in the liberal triennium: institutionalized nucleus of governmental decision

The survival of the Council of State after the Portuguese Liberal Revolution (1820) ensured it the role of adviser to the new Government. Under the terms of this body’s own Regulations of 1821 and the Constitution of 1822, the Government could appeal to the Council of State for an opinion on any decision in the sphere of the executive power. Heir to a centuries-old tradition, the Council of State had two sides: it was simultaneously a consultation body that advised the Government and a political-administrative instance with its own jurisdiction.