DE LANGE Thorbecke(1798-1872), who led the- then much smaller -Cabinet during the years 1849-1853, 1862-1866, and again in 1871-1872, and later Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920 Prime Minister from 1901-1905, took a position which led Van Raalte in his 1917 dissertation about the office of prime minister to the conclusion that there was a discrepancy between written law and political reality. At that tme, the presidency of the Council of ministers was only temporarily held: the ministers elected their president annually. The Royal Decree of September 26, 1922, no. 18, ended this situation and made the presidency of the council of ministers a pemanent position. Since 1933 nomally ough not always, the for ho was asked by the King to government, became prime minister. There was no election by the Council of ministers, although this was still required by the Council's Reglement van Orde. I In 1983, the present article 45 was incorporated in the Constitution. The second section of that article states that the Prime minister is the president of the Council of ministers. It was generally acknowledged that this provision does not make hm head of the govemment In 2000, in its Memorandum on Kingship(Beschounw ing over het koningschap, TK 27409, nr. 1), the Cabinet took the position(a lbeit implicitly and in passing only )that the Prime Minister is the head of government (regeringsleider). Almost certainly, this sentence was written especially for use abroad, to provide clarity with regard to the position of the Dutch Prime Minister. The position of the Prime Minister as the Head of Government has been generally recognised. The reference in the 2000 Memorandum only affirmed and confirmed the situation that had developed inside the Cabinet As a matter of constitutional law, the situation may be summarized as follows The King is Head of State(an office not mentioned in the Constitution)and member ofthe Govemment(article 42 of the Constitution) The Prime minister is head of the Government(an office not mentioned in the Constitution, although article 45$ 2 awards the prime minister the position of president of the Council of ministers) The King is inviolable, the ministers are responsible(article 42 of the Constitution) The responsibility of ministers is criminal and political. Criminal responsibility is regulated by the 1855 Act on Ministerial Responsibility(Wet ministeniele verant- woordeljkheid, which so far has never been applied. The extent of political responsibility is entirely a matter of unwritten law and convention. Inviok bility of the King seems to many people to make legal sense only if it is understood as inviolability of the King s person. Nevertheless, during the preparation of the Constitution in 1848 it was argued by members parliament that unlike the Belgian Constitution of 1831 the dutch Constitution should not refer to the King s person, but to the King. The reasons for this are not explicitly stated during the parliamentary debates on the revision of the Constitution in 1848. They may be found in monarchical sentiment in times of a Van Raalte 1954,p. llDE LANGE 4 Thorbecke (1798-1872), who led the - then much smaller - Cabinet during the years 1849-1853, 1862-1866, and again in 1871-1872, and later Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920), Prime Minister from 1901-1905, took a position which led Van Raalte in his 1917 dissertation about the office of Prime minister to the conclusion that there was a discrepancy between written law and political reality. At that time, the presidency of the Council of ministers was only temporarily held: the ministers elected their president annually. The Royal Decree of September 26, 1922, no. 18, ended this situation and made the presidency of the council of ministers a permanent position. Since 1933 normally, though not always, the formateur, i.e. the person who wa s asked by the King to form a government, became prime minister. There was no election by the Council of ministers, although this was still required by the Council's Reglement van Orde. 11 In 1983, the present article 45 was incorporated in the Constitution. The second section of that article states that the Prime minister is the president of the Council of ministers. It was generally acknowledged that this provision does not make him head of the government. In 2000, in its Memorandum on Kingship (Beschouwing over het koningschap, TK 27 409, nr. 1), the Cabinet took the position (albeit implicitly and in passing only) that the Prime Minister is the head of government (`regeringsleider'). Almost certainly, this sentence was written especially for use abroad, to provide clarity with regard to the position of the Dutch Prime Minister. The position of the Prime Minister as the Head of Government has been generally recognised. The reference in the 2000 Memorandum only affirmed and confirmed the situation that had developed inside the Cabinet. As a matter of constitutional law, the situation may be summarized as follows: - The King is Head of State (an office not mentioned in the Constitution) and member of the Government (article 42 of the Constitution); - The Prime minister is head of the Government (an office not mentioned in the Constitution, although article 45 § 2 awards the prime minister the position of president of the Council of ministers); - The King is inviolable, the ministers are responsible (article 42 of the Constitution). The responsibility of ministers is criminal and political. Criminal responsibility is regulated by the 1855 Act on Ministerial Responsibility (Wet ministeriële verant￾woordelijkheid), which so far has never been applied. The extent of political responsibility is entirely a matter of unwritten law and convention. Inviolability of the King seems to many people to make legal sense only if it is understood as inviolability of the King's person. Nevertheless, during the preparation of the Constitution in 1848 it was argued by members parliament that unlike the Belgian Constitution of 1831 the Dutch Constitution should not refer to the King's person, but to the King. The reasons for this are not explicitly stated during the parliamentary debates on the revision of the Constitution in 1848. They may be found in monarchical sentiment in times of a 11. Van Raalte 1954, p. 11