1811 (Ministerial Accountability to the King): While the four appointed ministers managed their respective departments, the Constitutional Law made it clear …

1811 (Ministerial Accountability to the King): While the four appointed ministers managed their respective departments, the Constitutional Law made it clear that they were entirely accountable to King Henry Christophe for their conduct. Each minister was required to present regular reports on the state of their administration and to execute the King’s orders with “zeal and punctuality.” The King reserved the power to remove any minister who failed to maintain the “integrity and activity” required for their high office. This centralized control was intended to ensure that the “penetrating eye” of the monarch reached into every detail of the national bureaucracy. It also served to reinforce the principle that all executive authority flowed directly from the throne.