The Privy Council of Scotland ( — 1 May 1708) was a body that advised the Scottish monarch. During its existence, the Privy Council of Scotland was essentially considered as the government of the Kingdom of Scotland, and was seen as the most important element of central government. This style of government, continued by his grandsons Charles II and James VII, was disrupted during the reign of Charles I by the Covenanters and the Cromwellian occupation. There are gaps in the register during the upheavals of 1638–41 when the council was largely displaced by an alternative administration set up by the Covenanters and during the Cromwellian period, the council ceased to act at all.
Acts of Union and abolishment
thumb|left|180px|[[James Sharp (bishop)|James Sharp, appointed to the Privy Council in 1663]]
After the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, Charles II nominated his own privy councillors and set up a council in London through which he directed affairs in Edinburgh, a situation that continued after the Glorious Revolution of 1688–9. Until 1707, the Privy Council met in what is now the West Drawing Room at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. It was called the Council Chamber in the 17th century. The Register of the Privy Council of Scotland (1545–1689) was edited and published between 1877 and 1970 by John Hill Burton, David Masson, Peter Hume Brown and Henry Macleod Paton.
The council survived the Act of Union but for one year only. It was abolished on 1 May 1708 by the Parliament of Great Britain and thereafter there was one Privy Council of Great Britain sitting in London.
Whilst the Kingdom of Scotland's legal, education and religious institutions were unaffected by the terms of the Treaty of Union and remained distinct and separate following the union, the Privy Council of Scotland was given somewhat a vague reassurance in the Treaty of Union. Article 19 of the 1707 treaty stated that "after the union the queen’s majesty and her royal successors may continue a privy council in Scotland, for preserving of public peace and order, until the parliament of Great Britain shall think fit to alter it, or establish any other effectual method for that end". As a result, the Privy Council of Scotland was considered vulnerable especially as a result of unravelling of party politics in both Edinburgh and London.
Beginning in the early 17th century, the Privy Council of Scotland began to divide responsibilities into two different areas, the Acta (government or state business) and Decreta (judicial and private business). Due to there being no formal government departments in the Kingdom of Scotland during the councils operation, it was the only forum to exist which allowed policy matters and decision making to be discussed. The responsibilities of the Privy Council of Scotland included law and order, military matters which included the recruitment and supply of military personnel and coastal defence, government finance and taxation, promulgation and enforcement of statute, oversight of local government, ecclesiastical affairs, responses to national crises, and the organisation of nationally significant events, most notably summoning and staging parliaments, as well as national celebrations, thanksgivings and fasts. In its judicial capacity, the Privy Council of Scotland responded to complaints about criminal activities, summoned suspected criminals and received and responded to petitions.