Ministerial Responsibility

Doctrine of ministerial responsibility definition

Ministerial responsibility is the primary mechanism for political accountability  

Doctrine of ministerial responsibility function

Ensures that the people, through Parliament, hold the executive to account 

Legal and constitutional status of the doctrine of ministerial responsibility

Not written in statute but is a convention

Featured in Cabinet Manual

Historical application of doctrine of ministerial responsibility

Historically, a scandal within a department often necessitated the minister's resignation 

Modern application of the doctrine of ministerial responsibility

It is now about whether the minister can fix the error rather than immediately resigning, unless the error was personally their fault