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The Executive Council of New Zealand is the body which legally serves the functions of the Cabinet. It has a function similar to that served by the Privy Council in the United Kingdom. The authority for its existence is provided by Letters Patent Constituting the Office of Governor-General of New Zealand, sections VII through X.
Officially, the Executive Council exists to advise the Governor-General; it was the counterpart to the Legislative Council, the now-defunct upper house of the New Zealand Parliament. To be an Executive Councillor, one must normally be a Member of Parliament (this was codified in the Constitution Act of 1986). However, one may serve up to thirty days without being an MP; this is to allow for the transition of members not yet sworn in and members who have retired or been defeated.
Members of the Executive Council are referred to as "Ministers of the Crown", which is not equivalent to being a Cabinet Minister. This merely gives them the authority to exercise executive power. Most members of the Executive Council are Cabinet Ministers, but some are appointed as so-called "Ministers outside Cabinet" who traditionally hold minor portfolios or serve as Associate Ministers to Cabinet Ministers. This tradition has been over-ridden with the appointment of Winston Peters as Minister of Foreign Affairs subsequent to the 2005 general election.
There have also been "Ministers without Portfolio", eg Mark Fagan from 1935 to 1939, though he was briefly an acting Minister of Customs in 1939. He was a member of the Legislative Council, but not of the Lower House.
The Executive Council's primary function is to issue Orders-in-Council (regulations), which operate under the authority of "the Governor-General in Council". Any three members of the Executive Council, not necessarily including the Governor-General, constitutes a quorum.
