Sweden

A limited monarchy, the constitution resting primarily on the law of June 6, 1809. The king is irresponsible; the executive power is vested in him alone; all his resolutions, however, must be taken in the presence of his cabinet. The cabinet councillors are appointed by him and are responsible to the parliament (Riksdag). They are eleven in number. They must be of Swedish birth and adherents of the Lutheran confession. The king has the right of initiative in the Riksdag and of absolute veto and has in certain administrative matters a special legislative right. The Riksdag consists of two chambers. The members of the first are elected by the representative bodies of the Lan and by the municipal councils of some of the rural towns. They are 150 in number and are distributed among the constituencies according to population on a ten years revision. The members of the second chamber number 230, of which 150 are elected from the rural constituencies and 80 from the towns. The supreme court has a membership of 18 judges and passes sentence in the name of the king, who is nominally the highest judicial authority. There are 119 rural judicial districts, which may be divided into judicial divisions, in each of which is a court consisting of a judge and 12 unpaid assessors elected by the people. Seven form a quorum. If unanimously of a different opinion from the judge, they can outvote him. There are three higher courts between these and the supreme court. The dissolution of the union between Sweden and Norway was approved by the Riksdag of Sweden on October 19, 1905.