The Cabinet consists of the Prime Minister and all other Ministers; it is the collective forum for Ministers to make decisions on questions of government policy and administration. In practice, all significant matters are decided by collective Cabinet decision.

The Cabinet of Grenada is expressly created by the Constitution of Grenada, Statutory Instrument 1973, No. 2155. Section 59 (1) of the Constitution declares that,

There shall be a Cabinet of Ministers for Grenada which shall consist of the Prime Minister and the other Ministers.  

If the Attorney-General is not a Minister, then the Constitution provides that he or she will be an ex-officio member of the Cabinet.

According to section 59 (3) of the Constitution,

The functions of the Cabinet shall be to advise the Governor-General in the government of Grenada…..

The same section enshrines the principle of collective responsibility:

….. the Cabinet shall be collectively responsible to Parliament for any advice given to the Governor-General by or under the general authority of the Cabinet for all things done by or under the authority of any Minister in the execution of his [or her] office.

The Cabinet’s functions are thus very broad. In practice, it is in the Cabinet where major policies are considered before they are announced by the Government, where most draft laws are discussed before they are introduced into the Parliament and where the Government’s budget proposals are agreed before they are submitted to the Parliament. Section 4.1 of this Manual provides more detailed guidance on the issues that should be brought to the Cabinet for decision.

The only functions explicitly excluded by Section 59 relate to the appointment and removal of Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries, assignment of functions to Ministers, authorization of a Minister to act as Prime Minister, dissolution of Parliament and matters relating to the prerogative of mercy under Section 72 of the Constitution.

The power of Cabinet is highlighted in Sub-Section 62 (1) of the Constitution, which provides that “the Governor-General shall act in accordance with the advice of the Cabinet or a Minister acting under the general authority of the Cabinet except in cases where he is required by this Constitution or any other law to act in accordance with the advice of any person or authority other than the Cabinet or in his [or her] own deliberate judgment.” For example, Section 85 of the Constitution requires the Governor-General to act in accordance with the advice of the Public Service Commission in making appointments to the positions of Secretary to the Cabinet, Permanent Secretary and head or deputy head of a government department.

The Constitution is therefore clear that, with certain exceptions, the Governor-General shall follow the advice of Cabinet, although Section 108 prevents decisions being challenged in court because that advice was not received or acted upon.