The Council of State is an organ established by the Constitution of Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 to advise the President of the Republic of Portugal

President of Portugal

Portugal has been a republic since 1910, and since that time the head of state has been the president, whose official title is President of the Portuguese Republic ....

 in the exercise of many of his discretionary, reserve powers. The constitution states that it must be summoned by the President in case he decides to dissolve the Assembly of the Republic

Assembly of the Republic

The Assembly of the Republic is the Portuguese parliament. It is located in a historical building in Lisbon, referred to as Palácio de São Bento, the site of an old Benedictine monastery...

, declare war or peace, or in case a government steps down.

Composition

• President of the Portuguese Republic
  President of Portugal
  Portugal has been a republic since 1910, and since that time the head of state has been the president, whose official title is President of the Portuguese Republic ....
  
  
• President of the Assembly of the Republic
  Assembly of the Republic
  The Assembly of the Republic is the Portuguese parliament. It is located in a historical building in Lisbon, referred to as Palácio de São Bento, the site of an old Benedictine monastery...
  
   (Parliament)
• Prime Minister
  Prime minister
  A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
  
  
• President of the Constitutional Court
• Provedor de Justiça (Justice Provider, or Ombudsman)
• President of the Regional Government of Azores
  Azores
  The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
  
  
• President of the Regional Government of Madeira
  Madeira
  Madeira is a Portuguese archipelago that lies between and , just under 400 km north of Tenerife, Canary Islands, in the north Atlantic Ocean and an outermost region of the European Union...
  
  
• Former elected Presidents of the Portuguese Republic
• Five members designated by the President of the Republic (Usually prominent figures such as the President of the Bank of Portugal)
• Five members elected by the Assembly of the Republic (Usually one from every party with parliamentary representation)
• Secretary of the Council of State

Current composition

From June 2011:

Category	Member
President of the Portuguese Republic President of Portugal Portugal has been a republic since 1910, and since that time the head of state has been the president, whose official title is President of the Portuguese Republic ....	Cavaco Silva
President of the Assembly of the Republic Assembly of the Republic The Assembly of the Republic is the Portuguese parliament. It is located in a historical building in Lisbon, referred to as Palácio de São Bento, the site of an old Benedictine monastery...	Assunção Esteves
Prime Minister Prime minister A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...	Pedro Passos Coelho Pedro Passos Coelho Pedro Manuel Mamede Passos Coelho , is Prime Minister of Portugal. Passos Coelho started very early in politics, becoming the national leader of the youth branch of the Social Democratic Party...
President of the Constitutional Court	Rui Manuel Moura Ramos
Provider of Justice (Onbudsman)	Alfredo José de Sousa
President of the Regional Government of Azores Azores The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...	Carlos César Carlos César Carlos Manuel Martins do Vale César is a Portuguese politician and the current President of the Regional Government of the Portuguese autonomous region of Azores...
President of the Regional Government of Madeira Madeira Madeira is a Portuguese archipelago that lies between and , just under 400 km north of Tenerife, Canary Islands, in the north Atlantic Ocean and an outermost region of the European Union...	Alberto João Jardim Alberto João Jardim Alberto João Cardoso Gonçalves Jardim, GCIH |Santa Luzia]], Funchal, Madeira Island) is a Portuguese politician who has been the President of the Regional Government of Madeira, Portugal, since 1978. He is currently among the most controversial politicians of Portugal.-Early years:Jardim was born...
Former elected President of the Portuguese Republic	Ramalho Eanes
Former elected President of the Portuguese Republic	Mário Soares Mário Soares Mário Alberto Nobre Lopes Soares, GColTE, GCC, GColL, KE , Portuguese politician, served as Prime Minister of Portugal from 1976 to 1978 and from 1983 to 1985, and subsequently as the 17th President of Portugal from 1986 to 1996.-Family:...
Former elected President of the Portuguese Republic	Jorge Sampaio
Designated by the President of the Republic	Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa Marcelo Nuno Duarte Rebelo de Sousa, ComSE, GCIH is a Portuguese politician and former Minister and Member of Parliament, law professor, former journalist, political analyst and pundit.-Background:...
Designated by the President of the Republic	Leonor Beleza Leonor Beleza Maria Leonor Couceiro Pizarro Beleza , is a Portuguese politician.-Career:She is daughter of José Júlio Pizarro Beleza and Maria dos Prazeres Lançarote Couceiro da Costa. Her brother is Luís Miguel Beleza....
Designated by the President of the Republic	João Lobo Antunes
Designated by the President of the Republic	Bagão Félix Bagão Félix Antonio José de Castro Bagão Felix is a Portuguese economist and politician.- Education :Antonio José de Castro Bagão Felix obtained a university degree in Finance from the Technical University of Lisbon's ISEG, formerly known as ISCEF , and a diploma in management by INSEAD .- Career :* the...
Designated by the President of the Republic	Vítor Bento
Elected by the Assembly of the Republic	Marques Mendes
Elected by the Assembly of the Republic	Luís Filipe Menezes Luís Filipe Menezes Luís Filipe de Menezes Lopes is a Portuguese politician.-Background:He is a son of José António Lopes , an Industrialist , and wife Luís Filipe de Menezes Lopes (born Ovar, 2 November 1953) is a Portuguese politician.-Background:He is a son of José António Lopes (Porto, Alvar, 10 September 1925...
Elected by the Assembly of the Republic	Manuel Alegre Manuel Alegre Manuel Alegre de Melo Duarte, GCL , is a Portuguese poet and politician, member of the Socialist Party, and a candidate to the Portuguese presidential election, 2006...
Elected by the Assembly of the Republic	António José Seguro
Elected by the Assembly of the Republic	Francisco Pinto Balsemão Francisco Pinto Balsemão Francisco José Pereira Pinto Balsemão, GCC , is a former Prime Minister of Portugal, who served from 1981 to 1983.-Background:He is the son of Henrique Patrício de Balsemão and wife Maria Adelaide van Zeller de Castro Pereira , granddaughter in male line of an adulterine son of King Pedro...

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