Under the Meiji Constitution, the supreme command of the army belonged to the Emperor, but whether the organization rights (troop organization, budget organization, etc.) were assisted by the Minister of State or, although it was not described in the Constitution, or it was included in the supreme command, because the military orders were assisted traditionally not by the Minister of State but by the supreme command staff (the Chief of the Military General Staff, the President of the Naval General Staff) was the major point of the dispute.
明治憲法下では軍の統帥権が天皇にあったが、編成権（部隊編成、予算編成など）に関しては国務大臣が補弼するのか。それとも、憲法に明記されていなかったが、慣習的に軍令については国務大臣が輔弼せず統帥部（陸軍：参謀総長。海軍：軍令部総長）が補弼することとなっていたことにより、その大権に含まれるのかどうかが大きな論点となっていた。