primus inter pares

The phrase describes someone who is formally equal to colleagues but leads them. In constitutional writing, the Prime Minister has been described as primus inter pares in the Cabinet, though in India the Prime Minister's position is much stronger, since the Council of Ministers is formed on his advice and resigns with him.

The Chief Justice of India has also been called first among equals: on the judicial side his vote counts the same as any other judge's, but on the administrative side he is the master of the roster who allocates cases and constitutes benches.

Example

Though the Chief Justice is primus inter pares on the bench, as master of the roster he alone allocates cases.

See also

collegium · bench

Read more in the study notes

• Council of Ministers and collective responsibility (Constitutional Law II)
• The Election Commission of India (Constitutional Law II)
• The British executive: the Crown, the monarch, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet (Political Science - Major World Governments)
• Switzerland: development, unique features, cantons and the plural executive (Federal Council) (Political Science - Major World Governments)
• India: the President, the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers (Political Science - Major World Governments)
• The executive: meaning, types, functions; parliamentary, presidential and plural executives (Political Science - Organisation and Institution)